US dollar edges up amid global sell-off of stocks

The U.S. dollar climbed against most major currencies Friday amid global equity sell-off. U.S. stocks lost ground Friday after markets tumbled around the globe and earnings from a pair of notable U.S. banks came in mixed. Investors' demand for the dollar increased as they sought for relatively safe assets. The greenback slumped to a five-month low earlier this week, triggered by the minutes of Federal Reserve's March meeting, which implied it may not raise the interest rate anytime soon. Following the policy meeting on March 18-19, Fed Chair Janet Yellen had said the American central bank may start to raise the interest rate "around six months" after it ends its bond-purchase program, which was sooner than analysts had expected previously and boosted the U.S. dollar before the recent drops. On the economic front, the U.S. Producer Price Index jumped 0.5 percent in March on a seasonally adjusted basis, said the Labor Department Friday, indicating some buildup of inflation in the country. Other data showed that U.S. consumer sentiment rose to 82.6 in April, the highest in nine months, according to the preliminary reading of a survey by Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan. In late New York trading, the euro rose to 1.3886 U.S. dollars from 1.3839 dollars of the previous session, and the British pound decreased to 1.6745 U.S. dollars from 1.6788 dollars. The Australian dollar declined to 0.9398 dollar from 0.9425 dollar. The U.S. dollar bought 101.58 Japanese yen, lower than 101.45 yen of the previous session. The U.S. dollar moved down to 0.8753 Swiss franc from 0.8762 Swiss francs, and it moved up to 1.0962 Canadian dollars from 1.0920 Canadian dollars.