March 14, 2007	Wednesday	Safar 24, 1428

LONDON, March 13: The dollar remained weak on Tuesday against major currencies after disappointing US retail sales data sparked worries about a slowdown in US consumer spending.

The euro rose to $1.3210 in late European trading from $1.3189 late Monday in New York.

The dollar fell to 116.75 yen, from 117.63 yen late on Monday.

Data showed US retail sales rose by just 0.1 per cent in February from January, well below forecasts by Wall Street analysts for a 0.3 per cent increase, causing the euro to rise above the $1.32 mark for the first time since March 3.

“Today’s modest increase in the value of US retail sales suggests that the boost to spending power from the energy price falls late last year has now run its course,” said Keith Gyles at Capital Economics.

The news caused the euro to add to earlier gains following a much stronger-than-expected German ZEW survey on economic expectations.

ZEW raised its expectations index to 5.8 points in March from 2.9 points last month. —AFP