Early trade in New York: dollar remains down, poised to end flat on week
The dollar fell for a third day on Friday against a basket of currencies as traders booked gains on its recent run-up tied to the widening interest rate gaps in favour of the United States and signs of cooling growth in the rest of the world.
The euro rose for a second day as the greenback retreated further from a 2018 peak reached earlier this week. The single currency, however, was still on track for a loss for a fourth straight week against the dollar.
"People are taking profits. The move is losing some steam," Chuck Tomes, senior investment analyst at Manulife Asset Management in Boston, said of the dollar's rise that started in mid-April and Friday's profit-taking.
At 11:22 am (1522 GMT), an index that tracks the dollar versus six currencies was down 0.05 percent at 92.603. It hit its strongest level of the year at 93.416 on Wednesday.
The dollar index was poised to end flat on the week, snapping three straight weeks of gains.
The euro scored a 0.2 percent gain at $1.1935 and a 0.25 percent rise against the Japanese currency at 130.59 yen.
On the week, the common currency was set to fall 0.15 percent against the greenback and to eke out about a 0.08 percent gain versus the yen.
A loss of economic momentum in Europe has made policymakers in Europe and Britain more cautious about ending 2008 financial crisis-era policies.
On Friday, ECB President Mario Draghi said the euro zone needs a new "fiscal instrument" to help weaker member nations if they are being overly penalized by investors during a debt crisis.
Traders pushed out expectations of a UK rate hike to end-2018 and the European Central Bank boosting interest rates in the second half of 2019.
The Swedish currency gained 0.6 percent at 9.5968 crowns per dollar, putting on track for the best weekly gain versus the greenback since late June 2017. It was on course for its strongest weekly increase versus the euro since February 2010, Reuters data showed.