The dollar fell for a second straight session against the yen on Friday, pressured by yet another weak US economic report and investors continuing to pare back overstretched long positions ahead of a three-day holiday weekend. Thursday's soft US retail and jobless claims numbers did not help the dollar's cause and that weakness spilled over to Friday when the US consumer confidence survey came out.
-- German GDP numbers, ECB ruling on Greece aid euro
US consumer sentiment unexpectedly dropped in February, data showed. The University of Michigan's preliminary February reading on the overall index on consumer sentiment came in at 93.6, below the final January read of 98.1. The euro was steady against the dollar, posting its third straight week of gains. A far stronger-than-expected reading of Germany's economic growth in the fourth quarter helped maintain a feeling of greater stability around the single currency, although Greece's numbers were less upbeat.
"The biggest risk to the dollar bull case is a shift in growth outlooks, and consensus forecasts combined with today's European GDP release warn that this risk might be building," said Camilla Sutton, chief currency strategist at Scotiabank in Toronto. In late trading, the dollar slipped 0.3 percent to 118.75 yen, down from a five-week high of 120.48 touched on Wednesday. The dollar has been weighed down by the drop in US Treasury debt yields as economic data disappointed and as investors fretted about developments in Greece and Ukraine.
The dollar index was down 0.5 percent this week, its weakest weakly performance since mid-December. It was last at 94.151, flat on the day. Investors next week will look to the minutes of the latest Federal Reserve meeting for clues as to when the Fed will start hiking interest rates.
The euro was little change at $1.1397. On the week, it posted gains of 0.7 percent, its best weekly showing since around mid-December. Greek bond yields were sharply lower after the European Central Bank further raised a cap on emergency funding for Greek banks by about 5 billion euros to 65 billion euros. Unable to reach an understanding on a broader deal this week, Greece and euro zone finance ministers will attempt again to bridge their differences on Monday. "We do not think the meeting outcome is likely to have persistent directional implications for G10 FX absent significant contagion across eurozone peripheral bond markets," said BNP Paribas in a research note.
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