By Barbara Kollmeyer, MarketWatch
MADRID (MarketWatch) — The dollar fell further against most major currencies Friday, against a backdrop of volatile equities and ahead of U.S. economic data including retail sales and consumer sentiment.
European stock markets rode out another volatile session, lately trading higher with banking stocks taking the lead, while in Asia, Japan and Korean stocks fell as Hong Kong edged up.
Markets appeared to be encouraged by news of a ban on short selling of financial stocks in four European countries including France. Read more on short-selling ban in Europe.
The euro EURUSD +0.19% rose 0.2% against the dollar to stand at $1.4237. Those gains came as France reported economic growth flattened out during the second quarter.
U.S. stock futures, meanwhile, edged up as a busy economic calendar loomed. July retail sales data are due at 8:30 a.m. Eastern time, then the Thomson Reuters and University of Michigan’s August index of consumer sentiment is due at 9:55 a.m. Eastern. Data on June business inventories are due at 10 a.m. Eastern.
The dollar index DXY -0.18% , which measures the performance of the greenback against a basket of other major currencies, traded at 74.460, down from 74.618 in late North American trade on Thursday.
The greenback USDJPY -0.35% fell slightly against the yen, to ¥76.64 yen compared to ¥76.79 in late New York trading on Thursday.
Against the Swiss franc, the dollar continued to climb, trading at 76.99 centimes compared to 76.30 centimes in late North American trade in the prior session. There are 100 centimes in a franc.
Barbara Kollmeyer is an editor for MarketWatch in Madrid.
