Growing expectations that the European Central Bank will raise rates by 50 basis points from 2.5 percent next week were supporting the euro against other currencies, analysts said. The euro hit a four-week high against sterling and the Swiss franc and a 16-month high against the Australian dollar on Friday. Rising inflation in German and France pushed underlying price pressures in the euro zone to 5-1/2 year highs in April, according to an Economic Cycle Research Institute index. The euro got a brief lift in Tokyo trade after John Berry said in a Bloomberg column that the Fed may choose to leave rates steady this month after recent data showing unit labour costs were contained. "Right now, the market's view on the Fed's policy is divided," said Mitsuru Sahara, forex manager at Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ in Tokyo. "In such a circumstance, the market is easily swayed by a column by an influential writer." U.S. Treasury Secretary John Snow discusses the employment report in TV interviews at 1315 GMT, and Chicago Fed President Michael Moskow speaks at 1730 GMT. U.S. factory orders for April are due at 1400 GMT.