Dollar steady after big hit from weak data
Afp, New York
The dollar steadied Friday a day after a big selloff as investors looked past a weak report on manufacturing that some analysts said could signal bigger problems for the world's biggest economy. The euro stood at 1.2783 dollars at 2100 GMT from 1.2779 dollars late in New York on Thursday. The dollar rose to 116.51 yen, compared with 116.33 yen late on Thursday. The greenback had fallen to two-week lows against major currencies earlier in the day in a continued response to Thursday's dismal Philadelphia Federal Reserve survey, which cemented market expectations that the next US interest rate move will be down. The report "might be remembered as the turning point of the US economy as the release showed widespread economic weakness," said Scotiabank analyst Mark Ellerbeck. Thursday's report from the Philly Fed "struck a chord with a market that is becoming increasingly sensitive to the prospect of a US slowdown," said Ian Gunner at Mellon Financial. "However, the one note of caution is that the Philly Fed does occasionally throw up some weak outcomes that are not sustained so the market will be waiting to see whether this potentially weaker message from manufacturing is replicated in other data." Despite the moves lower, however, the US currency remained within its recent trading ranges. Standard Chartered currency analyst Marios Maratheftis said the market was "very rangebound" and continued to lack any real direction. Currencies were likely to break out of those ranges at some point over the next few weeks, however, as the final quarter gets under way, he said. The dollar will then come under further pressure, with the yen the main beneficiary due to its current undervaluation, he said.
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