Dollar lower against euro

Published February 8, 2009

NEW YORK, Feb 7: The dollar weakened against the euro on Friday trade after another horrific set of US employment figures dented its safe-haven allure.

The euro was at $1.2943, up from $1.2786 late Thursday.

The dollar rose to 91.83 yen from 91.13 yen.

Over the past two weeks, the US docket has set a severe pace for its recession, showed the Fed (Federal Reserve) has few options left to stabilize the economy and employment data showed the worst rate of job losses for the world’s largest economy on record, said John Kicklighter at Forex Capital Markets.

Weak US data has been supportive of the dollar in past months because it encourages such safe-haven buying and we continue to favor ‘a buy into the dips’ mentality for the dollar, said Audrey Childe-Freeman of Brown Brothers Harriman.

Dealers noted that the euro may face more pressure as the eurozone economy weakens further, with industrial output in Germany, the region’s biggest economy, down much more than expected in December, figures showed on Friday.

The British pound extended gains won a day earlier when the Bank of England slashed its key interest rate by 50 basis points to an all-time low of 1.0 per cent.

Although low rates generally make a currency less attractive, that logic has been upset in recent weeks amid expectations for a stimulative effect that could lift sluggish economic activity.

In late New York trade Friday, the dollar slipped to 1.615 Swiss francs from 1.1724 late Thursday. The pound rose to $1.4789 from 1.4623.—AFP

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