LONDON (SHARECAST) - The dollar rose against the euro and the yen on Wednesday after it recovered from comments from Russia's central bank that it plans to reduce US Treasury purchases and buy currencies from emerging markets such as China, Brazil and India. Russia currently holds around 30% of its $400bn foreign exchange reserves in US government debt. The dollar index, which measures the currency against six others, rose to 80.193 from 79.751 in afternoon US trading. Meanwhile the sale of $19bn in 10-year US Treasury notes also boosted confidence in the US currency, analysts said. Wednesday’s auction comes amid fears about waning demand for US Treasury notes as the government manages the country’s growing debt. The dollar was also boosted by the Federal Reserve’s Beige Book, which said while the overall economy remained weak, there were signs in several states that the downturn was easing. The euro fell 0.6% to $1.3980 while sterling surged to its highest level against the euro so far this year after investors cheered upbeat UK economic data. The euro fell 0.8% to 85.53p while the pound rose to $1.6475.

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