IV:Dollar steady to higher vs. rivals on profit-taking
Investing.com - The U.S. dollar was steady to higher against the other major currencies on Friday, as investors locked in profits after risk-related assets rallied on Thursday following positive comments by European Central Bank President Mario Draghi.
During European late morning trade, the dollar was steady against the euro, with EUR/USD inching down 0.03% to 1.3268.
The euro remained supported after ECB President Draghi said on Thursday that a gradual economic recovery would begin this year, as structural reforms and actions by the ECB to tackle the region’s debt crisis continued to take effect.
The comments came after the ECB left interest rates on hold at 0.75% in a widely anticipated decision earlier, but some market participants had expected Draghi to hint at the possibility of rate cuts later in 2013.
The greenback was higher against the pound, with GBP/USD falling 0.35% to 1.6112.
Official data earlier showed that manufacturing production in the U.K. fell unexpectedly in November, ticking down 0.03% after a 1.3% decline the previous month.
Analysts had expected manufacturing production to rise 0.5% in November.
In addition, industrial production in the U.K. rose 0.3% in November, less than the expected 0.8% increase, after a 0.9% fall the previous month.
Elsewhere, the greenback was higher against the yen and the Swiss franc, with USD/JPY adding 0.18% to trade at 88.95 and USD/CHF advancing 0.33% to 0.9171.
The yen came under pressure after Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe unveiled a JPY10.3 trillion stimulus package to end deflation and boost growth.
According to the Cabinet Office, about JPY3.8 trillion will go to disaster prevention and reconstruction, with JPY3.1 trillion directed to stimulating private investment and other measures.
In addition, official data showed that Japan posted a current account deficit of JPY222.4 billion in November, the first deficit in 10 months and far larger than the expected JPY3.5 billion deficit.
The greenback was higher against its Canadian, Australian and New Zealand counterparts, with USD/CAD easing up 0.01% to 0.9833, AUD/USD sliding 0.32% to 1.0562 and NZD/USD dropping 0.70% to 0.8396.
The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, was up 0.02% to 79.88.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to release the government’s report on the trade balance.
