LONDON (AFX) - The dollar remained under pressure in midday trade on growing expectations that Wall Street will open sharply lower, dealers said. "The focus is on equities and that is undermining the dollar," said Rob Hayward, currency strategist at ABN Amro. Hayward said the risk is that the euro will push back above 0.9500 usd this afternoon and possibly hit the next key support level at 0.9555 usd. Though Hayward thinks it unlikely that the euro will break through that, he conceded that disappointing production figures or a downbeat University of Michigan index could undermine dollar sentiment further. "Anything along these lines could lead to a breakthrough," he said. Economists expect US industrial production to increase 0.3 pct in May, following April's 0.4 pct rise. An increase would be the fifth consecutive rise after output fell in 14 of the 15 prior months. Meanwhile, they expect the University of Michigan's June consumer sentiment index to fall slightly to 96.6 in the preliminary reading after rising to 96.9 in May's final reading. Disappointing figures today could rattle investors following yesterday's weak US retail sales figures. However, WestLB currency strategist Michael Klawitter concedes that further weak data would keep the dollar under further pressure but doubts there will be a significant near-term correction, given that market participants are already short dollar at a large margin. "This weekend's G7 meeting as well as today's US economic data should have little impact," he said. Meanwhile, there was little else going on, though sterling briefly rallied against the euro following better-than-expected unemployment data. Official figures showed unemployment fell by 7,000 in May against expectations of a 5,000 decline. The claimant count is now at its lowest level since October 1975, while the unemployment rate, which has fallen to 3.1 pct from 3.2 pct, is now at its lowest since July 1975. However, ABN Amro's Hayward said the rally failed to last, with sterling suffering in the more euro favourable environment. Nevertheless, sterling remains firm against the dollar and is trading at eight-month highs.