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Dollar hits 6-week high vs. euro
Rally fades in quiet holiday trade, investors look ahead to next week's payrolls report.
March 25, 2005: 10:25 AM EST

NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - The dollar struck a six-week high against the euro and rose on the yen early Friday, but quiet trading on what was a holiday weekend in many markets cooled the rally.

The euro bought $1.2953, up from $1.2937 late Thursday. Earlier in the day, the euro was buying $1.2928, its lowest level since Feb. 14.

The dollar traded at ¥106.36, little changed from ¥106.37 late Thursday. Earlier the dollar had reached ¥106.53.

There was some debate over whether the greenback buying would last after the holiday. They rally was sparked by the Federal Reserve's most recent interest rate hike and policy statements suggesting that it could raise rates more aggressively if inflation heats up.

Many said that the dollar's roughly 3.5 percent climb against the euro and 2 percent gain versus the yen in the past week have been driven by investors scurrying to cover short dollar positions, and hardly constituted a dollar-buying trend.

"The dollar buying we've been seeing ahead of the holiday has been driven by repositioning, and it's difficult to say whether this is going to continue into next week," Hideaki Furumaya, forex manager at Trust and Custody Services Bank, told Reuters.

Figures on Wednesday showing core U.S. consumer prices rising at the fastest year-on-year pace since 2002 added to the possibility of even bigger rate rises.

With inflation on their minds, traders will focus on economic data due out next week, particularly the March payrolls report, which could shed further light on the outlook for interest rates.

Economists expect the payrolls data, due next Friday, to show that the economy created 220,000 jobs in March, down from 262,000 in February, which was the biggest gain in four months.

Next week's schedule also includes the final reading of fourth-quarter gross domestic product and the February reading of the PCE index -- one of the Fed's favorite measures of inflation.

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