The dollar ended the week on the backfoot against the euro for the second week running following two disappointing key US indicators. Euro/dollar bounced back above the USD1.130 level after US retail sales in August rose 0.6pc, against expectations of a 1.5pc increase. At 1700, the euro was worth USD1.1316 and STG0.7040. Adding to the unease about the state of the economic recovery in the US was a worse than expected University of Michigan survey into consumer sentiment which weakened to 88.2 in early September from 89.3 in late August. However, the dollar was higher against the yen on talk of buying by Japanese banks. Analysts said the talk is that the Japanese monetary authorities are intervening via euro/yen.
They said the Japanese monetary authorities may be seeking to establish dollar/yen above the 117 mark, which technical buyers may consider a good signal to buy. The euro gained against sterling despite confirmation that the UK economy grew at a far faster pace than previously thought in 1999 and 2000. //www.fxcentre.com