Forex - Dollar dips on firming German confidence data, U.S. earnings

Investing.com  |  Author 

Published Jan 25, 2013 03:42PM ET

Investing.com - The dollar traded lower against most major currencies on Friday after German confidence data beat expectations, sparking a global risk-on trading session that came at the dollar's expense.

Rising equities indices pushed the greenback lower as well.

In U.S. trading on Friday, EUR/USD was up 0.63% at 1.3460.

Fourth-quarter earnings continue to come in better than expected for many companies, enticing market players off the sidelines and into stock markets, which was bearish for the dollar on Friday.

Elsewhere, the dollar weakened after the Ifo Institute for Economic Research said that its index of German business confidence improved to 104.2 in January, from 102.4 the previous month, beating expectations for a rise to 103.0.

Elsewhere, the European Central Bank said that banks will repay EUR137.159 billion in three-year loans next week, opting to hand back the money early, a sign the European financial sector may be returning to health.

The European Central Bank made the three-year loans available to banks last year to increase liquidity levels to combat the debt crisis.

The dollar, meanwhile, saw some safe-haven demand after the U.S. Census Bureau reported that new home sales rose less than anticipated in December, gaining by 369,000 units after an increase of 398,000 in the previous month.

Analysts had expected new home sales to rise by 385,000 units last month.

The greenback, meanwhile, was down against the pound, with GBP/USD trading up 0.07% at 1.5799.

The dollar rose against the yen, with USD/JPY trading up 0.70% at 90.97 and was down against the Swiss franc, with USD/CHF trading down 0.22% at 0.9268.

The dollar was mixed against its cousins in Canada, Australia and New Zealand, with USD/CAD up 0.43% at 1.0068, AUD/USD down 0.27% at 1.0423 and NZD/USD trading up 0.02% at 0.8382.

The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, was down 0.26% at 79.82.

On Thursday, the U.S. is to publish private sector data on existing home sales, a leading indicator of economic health.







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