LONDON, Aug 29 - The dollar fell across the board on Thursday as renewed weakness on Wall Street heightened concern over the health of the U.S. recovery ahead of a raft of economic data.Preliminary U.S. gross domestic product data for the second quarter will be released later in the session followed by manufacturing, consumer confidence and personal income data on Friday.
The dollar slid more than one percent to 117.60 yen DIVIDED ON ECONOMY
Last week the dollar climbed above 120 yen on firmness in U.S. stock markets, but its failure to maintain that level this week has compounded the view that it is essentially held in a range."There isn't any clear bias in the market as opinions on the U.S. economy are divided," said Daisaku Ueno, senior economist at Nomura Research Institute."Some people think the U.S. economy can cope with the turmoil in share markets this year because the housing sector is holding up fairly well. Others are more sceptical," he said.Most dealers said that no fresh factors were behind the greenback's recent moves, noting that it was still well within the fairly narrow ranges it has held for the last two months.
U.S. GDP data is due for release at 1230 GMT. Economists polled by expect the revised data to show the economy grew by 1.2 percent in the second quarter, not much different from the advance government estimate of 1.1 percent.The next test for the dollar is the Chicago Purchasing Managers' index, a key gauge of manufacturing activity in the U.S. Midwest, due on Friday.
JAPAN DATA LOOMS
Japan will unveil a pile of economic data on Friday and dealers said any negative surprises here could hurt the yen, too.Gross domestic product for April-June is expected to have expanded just 0.2 percent on the quarter, compared with 1.4 percent growth in the first quarter.Japanese industrial production, unemployment, household spending and nationwide consumer price data for July will also be released on Friday.Many dealers think the market will ignore the GDP figures."The recent trend for reactions to Japanese indicators is that the market will react when bad but will ignore if it is good," said Yoshiyasu Naruse, senior manager of the treasury sales section at HSBC in Tokyo.//www.money.iwon.com