18 December 2004	Saturday	05 Ziqa'ad 1425

LONDON, Dec 17: The euro gained ground against the dollar late on Friday after getting a lift from a better-than-expected improvement in the Ifo business confidence survey in Germany.

In late European trading, the single European currency was at $1.3283, up from $1.3237 late on Thursday in New York. The dollar stood at 104.28 yen compared with 104.76 on Thursday.

The euro shed earlier gains against the dollar as investors continued to close out positions and book profits ahead of the year-end. "Year-end profit-taking and position squaring together with the deterioration in the technical outlook suggests the euro will remain under pressure against the dollar in the near-term," said Hans Redeker, global head of FX strategy at BNP Paribas.

The euro, which had fallen strongly on Thursday against the dollar on a smaller-than-expected third quarter US current account deficit, climbed as high as $1.3317 early Friday on news that a key indicator of German business confidence rose to its highest level in eight months.

On the London Bullion Market, the price of an ounce of gold stood at $438.90 against $439.50 late on Thursday. -AFP