The dollar hit a six-month high against the euro on Friday after a strong US retail sales figure added to a string of upbeat data on the US economy. The retail sales data, which followed a surprisingly strong jobs report last week, had put to rest worries about a possible "soft patch" in the US economy and reassured the market that US interest rates would continue to rise at a steady pace, broadly supporting the dollar. "The dollar has broken above a key level against the kiwi, sterling and Aussie earlier this week. And now it is strengthening against every major currency," said Masamichi Koike, forex manager at Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp.
US retail sales in April surged 1.4 percent on the month, up from March's upwardly revised 0.4 percent increase and overshooting expectations for a 0.7 percent rise, data showed on Thursday. It was the strongest result in seven months.
A series of interest rate rises by the Federal Reserve has helped the dollar rebound about 6 percent against a basket of major currencies this year after it tumbled 30 percent in the previous three years on worries about growing US deficits.
The dollar's trade weighted index rose to a six-month high of 85.72.
The Fed has raised its funds rate by a quarter percentage point at each of eight consecutive meetings, bringing it to three percent. Its next meeting is in June.
The euro fell to around $1.2665 its lowest level in more than six months.
The dollar also rose to as high as at 106.96 yen its highest level in almost a month.
The yen got little help from mixed Japanese machinery orders data, a volatile leading indicator of capital spending.
Core private-sector machinery orders rose 1.9 percent in March, a little better than market expectations for a fall of 1.0 percent. But the Cabinet Office forecast orders to fall 3.1 percent in April-June quarter from the previous month.
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