Early trade in New York: Dollar down against euro, pound

The dollar was lower on Friday morning in the North American session as some optimism for the ongoing trade talks with China bolstered trade-linked currencies like the euro and the British pound.

Hopes that the United States and China may soon end their trade war after White House economic advisor Larry Kudlow said a deal was "getting close" lifted trade-exposed currencies on Friday at the expense of safe-haven assets such as the Japanese yen. Given the lack of concrete detail in Kudlow's comments, however, markets mostly stayed cautious.

"To be blunt, such rhetoric is more or less the same as Steven Mnuchin (who) said months ago that a deal was '99% done'," Commerzbank analysts wrote in a note to clients, though they acknowledged the comments had benefited sentiment.

They said the comments could not be taken seriously until the trade documents could be assessed and a deal was signed.

The dollar fell 0.26% against the euro and 0.24% against the British pound, at $1.105 and $1.291 respectively. It rose 0.3% versus the yen, last at 108.71, suggesting an end to the past week's dollar-yen slump may be in sight. The Swiss franc also weakened 0.16% versus the dollar.

But bleak Chinese data earlier in the week were still bolstering hopes for a deal, some analysts argued.