The dollar was generally stronger on Friday, after an encouraging report from the manufacturing sector raised hopes that recent weakness was a temporary setback on the road to economic recovery.
New orders for U.S. durable goods rebounded in May, according to figures released by the Commerce Department on Friday, with revised figures also showing that the April decline was not as steep as initially estimated.
The dollar steadied after some early losses versus the euro, and was trading at $1.4150 as of Friday afternoon. The buck gained on the euro this week, as traders remained anxious about the European sovereign debt crisis.
The Greek Parliament will vote Tuesday on a 5-year austerity plan approved by the European Union, European Central Bank, and International Monetary Fund.
Analysts say Parliament is likely to adopt major budget reforms in a close vote, triggering an expanded installment of funding designed to prevent a wider sovereign debt crisis.
The dollar kept its weekly gains versus the sterling and was just off yesterday’s 3-month high of $1.5937.
There was little movement versus the yen, with the buck holding above Y80 for a second week.
A mid-day rally took the dollar to C$0.9870 versus its Canadian counterpart, up a penny from its earlier levels.
Durable goods orders rose by $3.6 billion, or 1.9 percent, in May, marking a turnaround from April’s 2.7 percent decline. The April figures initially showed an even steeper, 3.6 percent decline.
Paul Ashworth, Chief U.S. Economist at Capital Economics, said that the rebound in durable goods orders in May will help ease any fears that the economy is headed for a double-dip recession.
“Nevertheless, it doesn’t change the broader picture that economic growth has slowed sharply over the past few months,” he added.
In economic news from across the Atlantic, German business sentiment increased unexpectedly in June, reports said citing a monthly survey from the Ifo institute. The Ifo business climate index rose to 114.5 in June from 114.2 in May. Economists were expecting the reading to fall to 113.4.
Meanwhile, confidence among French consumers remained stable after a modest improvement in the previous month, but their expectations regarding the broader economy improved slightly, latest survey by the statistical office INSEE showed.
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