IV:Dollar broadly higher vs. rivals as U.S. debt worries dominate
Investing.com - The U.S. dollar was broadly higher against the other major currencies on Friday, concerns over upcoming U.S. debt ceiling negotiations continued to weigh on demand for riskier assets, despite upbeat Chinese data.
During European late morning trade, the dollar was higher against the euro, with EUR/USD slipping 0.16% to 1.3354.
Sentiment remained under pressure as uncertainty over the U.S. debt ceiling deadlock continued to weigh after President Barack Obama urged Republicans earlier in the week to approve an increase in the borrowing limit without seeking policy concessions in return.
On Thursday, the head of the International Monetary Fund, Christine Lagarde, warned that the fight over raising the U.S. government's debt ceiling could be "catastrophic" for the global economy if not resolved in time.
The greenback was also higher against the pound, with GBP/USD shedding 0.39% to 1.5935.
Official data earlier showed that retail sales in the U.K. slipped 0.1% in December, disappointing expectations for a 0.2% rise, after a flat reading the previous month.
Separately, U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron postponed a highly anticipated speech set to outline the country's future within the European Union because of a hostage crisis in Algeria.
Elsewhere, the greenback was steady against the yen, with USD/JPY dipping 0.01% to trade at 88.87 and higher against the Swiss franc, with USD/CHF rising 0.26% to 0.9350.
The yen remained under broad selling pressure amid mounting expectations for aggressive monetary easing measures by the Bank of Japan.
The greenback was higher against its Canadian, Australian and New Zealand counterparts, with USD/CAD climbing 0.39% to 0.9895, AUD/USD dropping 0.43% to 1.0502 and NZD/USD slipping 0.14% to 0.8350.
The export-linked currencies found support earlier, after official data showed that China's gross domestic product rose 7.9% in the fourth quarter from a year earlier, compared with expectations for a 7.8% rise, after a 7.4% increase in the previous quarter.
The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, was up 0.23% to 79.91.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to release preliminary data from the University of Michigan on consumer sentiment.
