The Greenback Edges Higher Against Euro

Currency markets drifted earlier this week, letting waves of data largely wash over them as London traders prepared for Monday´s holiday.

The euro climbed to $1.2323 against the dollar in early European trade, but eased after an unexpected fall in Germany´s IFO index of business sentiment.

However, the move was not sharp as the market largely shrugged off the data given the recent raft of positive German indicators. By mid-session in New York, with no headline US data to stir the market, the single currency was at $1.228.

The yen made headway, pushing the dollar to Y109.9 from Y110.3 in Asia in spite of data showing Japan´s trade surplus shrank 22.6 per cent, year on year, to Y873.6bn.

But this beat the Y730bn predicted by economists who also noted that the fall was the result of oil-bolstered import prices that overshadowed a further rise in export growth.