U.S. Dollar Climbs Against Major Currencies

The U.S. dollar advanced against the euro and some other major currencies Friday, as appetite for risk assets weakened before the weekend and as investors remained focused on the euro-zone debt worries.

The ICE dollar index DXY +0.00% , a measure of the greenback against a basket of six major global currencies, traded at 82.990, compared with 82.926 in North America Thursday.

The euro EURUSD -.00% fetched $1.2265, compared with $1.2272, ahead of a conference call of euro-zone finance ministers, where they are expected to formally approve an agreement to lend up to €100 billion euros to Spain to capitalize the nation’s lenders.

On Thursday, Germany’s lower house of parliament voted overwhelmingly in favor of the move.

“The Eurogroup meeting keeps the focus on Europe’s woes and the lack of clarity around the support for Spanish banks. No change there. Euro weakness has been the main theme for FX markets and remains the case,” said Kit Juckes, a currencies strategist at Société Générale.

The WSJ dollar index XX:BUXX +0.00% , a new benchmark of the greenback’s moves against a basket of some of the world’s most heavily traded currencies, was at 71.93, compared with 71.89.

Among other major currencies, the British pound GBPUSD -.00% eased to $1.5693 from $1.5720 and the Australian dollar AUDUSD -.00% inched down to $1.0414 from $1.0427.

Against the Japanese unit USDJPY -.00% , the greenback was changing hands at ¥78.56, little changed from ¥79.57.

The dollar’s gains came against the backdrop of a risk-off environment in Asian equity markets, with most regional benchmarks staging a retreat.

Standard & Poor’s 500 Index SPX +0.27% futures were down 3.80 points, or 0.3%, to 1,368.10 and Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA +0.27% futures dropped 26 points, or 0.2%, to 12,854.00, also reflecting weak sentiment after a three-day winning streak on Wall Street.

Source: Market Watch