WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - After early weakness, the U.S. dollar gained in strength on Friday, riding on some fairly strong economic data.
A report from the University of Michigan showed a much bigger than expected upward revision to its reading on U.S. consumer sentiment in the month of November as consumers were more optimistic about the future than previously estimated.
The report said the consumer sentiment index for November was upwardly revised to 96.8 from the preliminary reading of 95.7. The revised reading is well above the final October reading of 95.5.
The IHS Markit US Composite PMI rose to a four-month high of 51.9 in November 2019 from 50.9 in the previous month, a preliminary estimate showed. Stronger manufacturing and services sector activity contributed to the growth.
The IHS Markit US Manufacturing PMI rose to 52.2 in November 2019 from 51.3 in the previous month, while the Services PMI rose to 51.6 in November 2019 from 50.6 in the previous month.
The dollar index rose to 98.31 and was last seen at 98.26, up 0.27% from previous close.
Against the Euro, the dollar strengthened to 1.1022 from Thursday's 1.1060.
Euro area private sector grew at a much slower pace in November, indicating spillover effects from manufacturing to the services activity, flash data from IHS Markit showed Friday.
The composite output index fell unexpectedly to 50.3 in November from 50.6 in October. The expected reading was 50.9.
Although a score above 50 indicates expansion, it signaled the second slowest growth across manufacturing and services since the current upturn began in July 2013.
The services Purchasing Managers' Index dropped to 51.5 from 52.2 in the previous month. Economists had forecast a score of 52.4.
Meanwhile, the manufacturing PMI rose to 46.6 from 45.9 a month ago. The score was forecast to drop to 46.4.
The pound sterling was down fairly sharply against the greenback, falling to $1.2835, from $1.2910 on Thursday.
The Japanese Yen was little changed at 108.60 a dollar, after moving between 108.47 and 108.72.
The Aussie was down slightly at 0.6786. Against Swiss franc, the dollar was trading at 0.9971, up 0.4% from previous close.
The loonie edged up after Canadian retail sales data came in line with expectations, but retreated later. The USD-CAD pair was last seen at 1.3299, with the dollar gaining about 0.1%.
Data from the Statistics Canada showed that retail sales fell 0.1% on a seasonally adjusted monthly basis after a revised 0.1% rise in August. The rate matched economist estimates.
Core retail sales excluding motor vehicle and parts dealers rose 0.2% from August, when it fell a revised 0.1%. The reading was forecast to fall by 0.3%.
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