Dollar weakens against euro on eurozone data

The US dollar retreated against most major currencies Friday while the euro strengthened across the board as eurozone economic data reduced the possibility of further monetary easing by the European Central Bank (ECB). The European Union statistics office reported Friday that inflation in the euro area climbed 0.9 percent from a year ago, higher than market expectation. Meanwhile, unemployment rate in the euro area unexpectedly declined in October to 12.1 percent from a record of 12.2 percent in the prior month, falling for the first time in almost three years. The economic data in the eurozone damped speculations of more monetary stimulus from the central bank and boosted the euro. The ECB unexpectedly cut its benchmark interest rate to a record level of 0.25 percent on Nov. 7. For the month, the euro gained 0.03 percent versus the dollar while the dollar strengthened 4.1 percent versus the yen. In late New York trading, the euro rose to 1.3583 dollars from 1.3573 dollars in the previous session, and the British pound increased to 1.6365 dollars from 1.6277 dollars. The Australian dollar climbed to 0.9110 dollar from 0.9077 dollar. The dollar bought 102.43 Japanese yen, higher than 102.12 yen of the previous session. The green back moved down to 0.9067 Swiss franc from 0.9081 and went up to 1.0613 Canadian dollars from 1. 0596.