~LONDON (SHARECAST) - The dollar rallied against major rivals on Friday as concern about escalating tensions throughout North Africa sparked a flight to safety. The greenback, crude oil and gold all marked strong gains as anti-government protests in Cairo turned increasingly violent. There are fears that unrest in Egypt could spread to the Suez Canal and disrupt a key supply route between the Middle East and Europe. The dollar was also boosted by a solid but weaker than predicted US GDP report. US gross domestic product rose to 3.2% for the last three months of 2010, up from 2.6% in the previous quarter but didn’t meet forecasts of 3.5% growth. Personal consumption rose to 4.4% from 2.4% the previous period and beat forecasts of 4%. The dollar index, which measures the US currency against a basket of six others, rose to 78.171 from 77.699. The euro slipped to $1.3608 on Friday from $1.3738 the previous session as investors moved out of riskier investments amid growing unrest in Egypt. The yen recovered from Thursday’s sell-off as investors sought its safe haven qualities. The dollar was down at 82.16 yen from 83.18 yen the previous session. Sterling lost ground against the dollar as traders headed nervously into the weekend amid reports of increasingly violent protests in Egypt.

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