US Dollar Holds Gains After Jump on Oil's Slide
The U.S. dollar inched lower against the euro on Friday but held on to much of the gains it made the previous day when investors sold commodities including oil and gold and repatriated cash back into the dollar.
The dollar made its biggest gain against the euro since mid-December on Thursday as oil dropped as much as 4 percent at one point and commodities such as gold and platinum also fell.
Market players said the dollar's rise was likely exaggerated by position unwinding and profit-taking ahead of Easter holidays in Europe and the United States.
"The fact that there is a credit crunch has not changed, nor have conditions in the U.S. housing market. The dollar may find it hard to rise further," said a trader for a Japanese trust bank.
The euro was up slightly against the dollar from around $1.5435 in late U.S. trading on Thursday, but well off a record high of $1.5905 struck on the electronic trading platform EBS on Monday.
The dollar was little changed against the yen from late New York, hovering above a 12-½ year low of 95.77 yen hit on EBS on Monday.
At various times during the New York session, a flow-driven market and losses on the euro/yen cross weighed on the dollar against the yen but the dollar ended up rising against the yen as U.S. equities rallied.
Trading is likely to be thin on Friday with U.S. and European markets closed for Easter holidays. Markets in Australia, Hong Kong and Singapore are also closed.
