The dollar rose against the euro but was little changed against the yen from overnight New York levels in Asian trading Thursday morning following weaker than expected U.S. retail sales data.
The dollar was trading at 107.61 yen late morning in Tokyo, up 0.35 yen from late Wednesday in Tokyo and above the 107.39 yen it bought in New York later that day. The euro slipped to $1.2888 from $1.2950 late Wednesday in Tokyo and to 138.67 yen from 138.88 yen.
Late Wednesday in New York, the British pound bought $1.8939, up from $1.8854. The dollar also fell to 1.2004 Swiss francs from 1.2021; and 1.2380 Canadian dollars from 1.2398.
In New York trading, the dollar was little changed against the euro despite a weak U.S. retail sales report but fell back against the yen. Government data released Wednesday showed that retail sales were up 0.3 percent in March although the market had expected a 0.8 percent rise.
The market focus seems to have shifted in recent sessions to technical factors. On Tuesday, the dollar rallied despite a report showing the U.S. current account deficit widened to a new record.
Analysts say the dollar may remain range bound until the market gets a better picture of the outlook for U.S. Federal Reserve policy.
Recent prospects that the Fed will continue to raise interest rates this year have set off a dollar rally. Higher interest rates make assets denominated in the dollar more attractive to investors, boosting the currency.
In Washington, the IMF said the global economy should continue to expand at a brisk pace in 2005, but warned it was too reliant on demand in the United States and remains vulnerable to high oil prices.
In its latest World Economic Outlook, the IMF predicted global output would rise 4.3 percent this year, an increase of 0.2 percentage point from its last forecast, published in October. For 2006, the group predicted output would rise 4.4 percent.