Investing.com - The dollar traded lower against the world's major global currencies on Friday after Germany approved a multilateral lending deal for Greece.
Fears talks to steer the U.S. away from its fiscal cliff suppressed appetite for risk-on assets and sparked dollar demand, which trimmed the greenback's earlier losses.
In U.S. trading on Friday, EUR/USD was up 0.18% at 1.3003.
E.U. and I.M.F. officials agreed on a proposal for Greece to cut its debt to 124% of gross domestic product by 2020 in exchange for fresh aid payments.
Germany's parliament on Friday gave the accord the green light, which clears a hurdle and frees up EUR44 billion to flow into the country's coffers in installments to avoid default for now.
Elsewhere, European Central Bank President Mario Draghi's said earlier that the eurozone economy should begin recovering in the second half of 2013.
Investors largely shrugged off soft U.S. and European data.
Germany revealed earlier that the country's retail sales contracted 2.8% in October from September, outpacing market calls for a 0.2% decline and falling well short of a 0.5% rise in September.
Elsewhere in Europe, the eurozone consumer price index fell more than expected in November, coming in at an annualize rate of 2.2% from 2.5% in October.
Analysts had expected a 2.4% reading in November.
Meanwhile, the unemployment rate for eurozone rose to a record high 11.7% in October from 11.6% the previous month, in line with expectations.
The dollar, meanwhile, saw some safe-haven demand in wake of disappointing output data in the U.S.
The Chicago purchasing managers' index hit 50.4 in November, up from 49.9 the previous month but short of market calls for a gain to 50.5.
Still, a reading over 50 signifies an expanding economy.
Separately, government data revealed that U.S. personal spending decreased unexpectedly in October, ticking down 0.2% after a 0.8% rise the previous month.
Analysts had expected personal spending to rise 0.2% in October.
U.S. personal income was flat last month, disappointing expectations for a 0.2% gain following a 0.4% increase in September.
Demand for the dollar rose further on Friday after hopes for a prompt solution to avoid the fiscal cliff looked unlikely after House Speak John Boehner, an Ohio Republican, lamented that talks on fiscal reforms with Democrats in the Senate and White House were going "almost nowhere."
The fiscal cliff, a combination of rising taxes and cuts to government spending converging at the close of this year, could tip the U.S. into a recession next year if Congress fails to steer the economy away from it.
Meanwhile, the greenback was up against the pound, with GBP/USD trading down 0.09% at 1.6026.
The dollar was up against the yen, with USD/JPY trading up 0.34% at 82.40 and down against the Swiss franc, with USD/CHF trading down 0.06% at 0.9268.
The dollar was up against its cousins in Canada, Australia and New Zealand, with USD/CAD trading up 0.09% at 0.9929, AUD/USD down 0.02% at 1.0433 and NZD/USD trading down 0.26% at 0.8207.
The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, was down 0.06% at 80.14.
Fears talks to steer the U.S. away from its fiscal cliff suppressed appetite for risk-on assets and sparked dollar demand, which trimmed the greenback's earlier losses.
In U.S. trading on Friday, EUR/USD was up 0.18% at 1.3003.
E.U. and I.M.F. officials agreed on a proposal for Greece to cut its debt to 124% of gross domestic product by 2020 in exchange for fresh aid payments.
Germany's parliament on Friday gave the accord the green light, which clears a hurdle and frees up EUR44 billion to flow into the country's coffers in installments to avoid default for now.
Elsewhere, European Central Bank President Mario Draghi's said earlier that the eurozone economy should begin recovering in the second half of 2013.
Investors largely shrugged off soft U.S. and European data.
Germany revealed earlier that the country's retail sales contracted 2.8% in October from September, outpacing market calls for a 0.2% decline and falling well short of a 0.5% rise in September.
Elsewhere in Europe, the eurozone consumer price index fell more than expected in November, coming in at an annualize rate of 2.2% from 2.5% in October.
Analysts had expected a 2.4% reading in November.
Meanwhile, the unemployment rate for eurozone rose to a record high 11.7% in October from 11.6% the previous month, in line with expectations.
The dollar, meanwhile, saw some safe-haven demand in wake of disappointing output data in the U.S.
The Chicago purchasing managers' index hit 50.4 in November, up from 49.9 the previous month but short of market calls for a gain to 50.5.
Still, a reading over 50 signifies an expanding economy.
Separately, government data revealed that U.S. personal spending decreased unexpectedly in October, ticking down 0.2% after a 0.8% rise the previous month.
Analysts had expected personal spending to rise 0.2% in October.
U.S. personal income was flat last month, disappointing expectations for a 0.2% gain following a 0.4% increase in September.
Demand for the dollar rose further on Friday after hopes for a prompt solution to avoid the fiscal cliff looked unlikely after House Speak John Boehner, an Ohio Republican, lamented that talks on fiscal reforms with Democrats in the Senate and White House were going "almost nowhere."
The fiscal cliff, a combination of rising taxes and cuts to government spending converging at the close of this year, could tip the U.S. into a recession next year if Congress fails to steer the economy away from it.
Meanwhile, the greenback was up against the pound, with GBP/USD trading down 0.09% at 1.6026.
The dollar was up against the yen, with USD/JPY trading up 0.34% at 82.40 and down against the Swiss franc, with USD/CHF trading down 0.06% at 0.9268.
The dollar was up against its cousins in Canada, Australia and New Zealand, with USD/CAD trading up 0.09% at 0.9929, AUD/USD down 0.02% at 1.0433 and NZD/USD trading down 0.26% at 0.8207.
The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, was down 0.06% at 80.14.