NEW YORK CITY: The dollar traded mixed against other major currencies Friday amid easing concerns about a US-led military strike against Syria.
The euro bought $1.3218 at around 2100 GMT, down from $1.3241 at the same time Thursday.
The dollar slipped to 98.16 yen from 98.32 late Thursday.
The euro also fell against the Japanese currency, to 129.82 yen from 130.18.
Tensions in Syria and weak US economic data dominated trade ahead of a long holiday weekend. US financial markets are closed Monday for the Labor Day federal holiday.
US consumer spending sputtered in July amid weak income growth, according to Commerce Department data released Friday.
Consumer spending, the main growth driver in the US economy, edged up only 0.1 percent in July, after a 0.6 percent increase in June.
The monthly consumer spending figure was much weaker than the 0.3 percent consensus forecast.
"The consumption and income numbers add to a roster of weaker-than-expected July data," Barclays analyst Peter Newland said.
The new data cast a cloud over speculation that the Federal Reserve will begin to reduce its $85 billion a month bond-buying program this year
Concerns about the strength of the major economic indicators in the third quarter could convince the Fed to delay the move, which could come as soon as its September 17-18 monetary policy meeting
"The last unofficial week of summer was suppose to be a quiet one but the risk of a strike on Syria and thin liquidity in the financial markets ended up causing wild swings in currencies, equities and commodities," said Kathy Lien of BK Asset Management.
The dollar fell to 0.9282 Swiss franc from 0.9308 franc late Thursday.
The pound was nearly unchanged, ticking up to $1.5502.
Comments
Comments are closed.