WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - The U.S. dollar had a good outing on Friday, extending recent uptick, and among the reasons for the greenback's rise in the session was the data showing a solid increase in U.S. consumer spending in July.
Concerns over trade tensions remained somewhat under check thanks to the two both China and the U.S. appearing keen on resuming negotiations from September.
The dollar index, which rose to 99.02, subsequently pared a substantial part of its gains. The index was last seen hovering around 98.80, up 0.3% from previous close.
Against the Euro, the dollar was trading at 1.0990, gaining 0.6%, after having recovered from the day's low of 1.1063.
In European economic news, Germany's retail sales declined at the fastest pace seen so far this year in July, signaling weak household spending at the start of the third quarter.
Retail turnover decreased a faster-than-expected 2.2% month-on-month, reversing a 3% rise in June, official data showed.
However, on a yearly basis, retail sales rebounded 4.4% after falling 1.6% in June. This was the fastest increase in three months.
Against Pound Sterling, the dollar was up 0.13% at 1.2166. In economic news from the U.K., house prices in the country increased 0.6% year-on-year in August, following a 0.3% rise in July, data from Nationwide Building Society showed.
The safe-haven Japanese currency Yen was up 0.25% against the dollar, with a unit of greenback fetching 106.25 yen, as against 106.51 yen late Thursday.
The dollar was up 0.2% at 1.3314 against the loonie, which fared fairly well against most other major currencies thanks to strong GDP data.
According to data released by Statistics Canada, the nation's real gross domestic product climbed by 0.9% in the second quarter, after edging up 0.1% in the previous quarter.
On an annualized basis, the GDP rose 3.7% in the second quarter, following a revised 0.5% rise in the previous quarter. Economists had forecast a 3% growth.
On a month-on-month basis, the gross domestic product rose 0.2 percent in June, the same rate as seen in May. Economists had expected a growth of 0.1 percent.
The dollar was up 0.32% at 0.9898 against Swiss franc. The Aussie got the better of greenback, gaining 0.12% at 0.6736.
The Chinese Yuan was down by about 0.2% at 7.1570 a dollar, ahead of implementation of new retaliatory tariffs on Sunday.
In economic news, a report from the Commerce Department said U.S. personal income crept up by less than expected in the month of July, rising just 0.1%, after climbing by an upwardly revised 0.5% in June. Personal income was expected to rise by 0.3% in July, compared to the 0.4% increase originally reported for the previous month.
Meanwhile, personal spending grew by 0.6% in July after rising by an unrevised 0.3% in June. Economists had expected personal spending to climb by 0.5%.
Revised data released by the University of Michigan on Friday showed U.S. consumer sentiment deteriorated by even more than initially estimated in the month of August.
The report said the consumer sentiment index for August was downwardly revised to 89.8 from the preliminary reading of 92.1.
The revised reading is down sharply from the final July reading of 98.4, showing the biggest monthly drop since December of 2012.
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