AP: Dollar keeps gaining as traders pare risk exposure
NEW YORK — The safe-haven dollar kept rising Friday and Treasury yields hovered around their lows for the year as worries about the economy in 2010 continued to weigh on traders' taste for risky bets.
The euro dropped to $1.4844 in morning trading in New York from $1.4919 late Thursday. Earlier this morning, the euro dipped below $1.48 for the first time since Nov. 3.
Meanwhile, the British pound tumbled to $1.6508 from $1.6647, while the dollar dipped to 88.97 Japanese yen from 89.01 late Thursday in New York.
The dollar had jumped on Thursday as investors sought safe havens following disappointing U.S. economic data.
The government reported that jobless claims for the newly unemployed remained high, and another report showed more homeowners sinking into foreclosure. The Conference Board, a private research group, said its forecast of economic activity grew, but analysts said momentum was dropping and the U.S. would have slow, bumpy growth next year.
Weaker economic news can support the dollar as investors cut their bets on more volatile stocks, commodities and emerging-market currencies and buy up the dollar and short-term U.S. Treasurys.
The yield on the three-month T-bill was 0.02 percent Friday morning after falling as low as 0.005 percent late Thursday, its weakest level in a year. Meanwhile, the Dow Jones industrials were down about 33 points in early trading.
In other trading, the dollar rose to 1.0188 Swiss francs from 1.0133 francs, and gained to 1.0701 Canadian dollars from 1.0626.
