April 05, 2007	Thursday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 16, 1428

LONDON, April 4: The euro climbed against the dollar on Wednesday after a survey by the Institute of Supply Management showed slower-than-expected growth in the US service sector in March.

The euro rose to $1.3368 in late European trading, from $1.3329 late in New York on Tuesday.

The dollar fell to 118.73 yen in European trade, compared with 118.89 late on Tuesday.

The ISM non-manufacturing index fell to 52.4 in March, down from 54.3 in February, while analysts had expected a reading of 54.7. A reading above 50 percent signifies expansion.

“There has been a rash of disappointing US data this afternoon which has put pressure on the dollar,” said Mitul Kotecha, head of forex strategy at Calyon.

“The data also gives us a bit of a clue for Friday’s jobs report and it’s pointing towards the downside,” he added, referring to a key jobs report by the US Labour Department on Friday.—AFP