Early trade in New York: Dollar index gains, euro and pound fall

NEW YORK: The euro and sterling dipped against the dollar on Friday as investors bet interest rates would stay lower for longer in Europe, a day after currency markets shrugged off a high US inflation number as likely to be temporary.

The dollar index was last up 0.46% at 90.4790 while the euro was down 0.53% at $1.2112.

Sterling was down 0.43% at $1.4115, also dented by the rapid spread of the Delta variant in Britain, raising concerns that much of the country may not be able to fully reopen from lockdown on June 21, as planned.

Meanwhile investor left riskier currencies such as the Australian dollar was down 0.63% against the US dollar and the New Zealand dollar was off 0.92% at $0.7129.

In cryptocurrencies, bitcoin, which recovered slightly in recent sessions, was on track for a 4% weekly gain and last up 1.6% at $37,288 on the day. Ether, however, was last down 0.4% and set for a 9% weekly drop. Both are still trading significantly below their earlier peaks.