WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - The dollar is weakening against all of its major rivals Friday afternoon. Investor sentiment continued to be impacted by the political uncertainty generated by a series of scandals that have plagued the Trump administration this week. The lack of U.S. economic data at the end of the week also kept some investors on the sidelines.
Greece's lawmakers approved a reforms package on Thursday that includes pension cuts and tax hikes as demanded by the country's lenders in return for unlocking another tranche of bailout funds and to start discussions over debt relief.
The parliament nod came ahead of the Eurogroup meeting on May 22 when euro area finance ministers would consider disbursement of the bailout funds and discuss debt relief.
At the start of the month, Greece had reached a deal with its international creditors on reforms, thus paving the way for the disbursement of the next tranche of funds from the EUR 86 billion bailout agreed in 2015 and the start of talks on a possible debt relief.
It was these reforms that lawmakers approved on Thursday even as demonstrators, mainly public-sector trade unions, staged protests outside the parliament and hurled firebombs at police who responded with tear gas.
The dollar has dropped to over a 6-month low of $1.12 against the Euro Friday afternoon, from an early high of $1.1098.
Eurozone consumer confidence strengthened for a third consecutive month in May to its highest level in nearly a decade, preliminary data from the European Commission showed Friday. The flash consumer confidence index climbed to -3.3 from April's -3.6. Economists had forecast a score of -3.
The euro area current account surplus declined in March largely due to widening shortfall on secondary income, figures from the European Central Bank showed Friday. The current account surplus fell to a seasonally adjusted EUR 34.1 billion in March from a record EUR 37.8 billion in February.
Germany's producer prices increased at the fastest pace since late 2011, figures from Destatis showed Friday.
Producer prices grew by more-than-expected 3.4 percent year-on-year in April, faster than the 3.1 percent rise in March. This was the biggest increase since December 2011. Economists had forecast 3.2 percent increase.
The buck has fallen to around $1.30 against the pound sterling Friday, from an early high of $1.2940.
British manufacturing order books improved in May and output growth picked up pace, the Industrial Trends Survey from the Confederation of British Industry showed Friday. The order book balance rose to 9 percent in May from 4 percent in April. The score was forecast to remain at 4 percent. The balance reached its highest level since February 2015.
British manufacturers and service providers were more confident that their turnover and profitability would increase in coming twelve months, the latest Quarterly International Trade Outlook published by the British Chambers of Commerce and DHL showed Friday.
The BCC/DHL Trade Confidence Index rose 5.5 percent in the first quarter from the prior three months. The indicator climbed 9.06 percent from the previous year to 126.55, standing at its second highest level since records began in 2004.
The greenback has been relatively flat in comparison to the Japanese Yen Friday, dipping to around Y111.365 this afternoon from an intraday high of Y111.701.
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX