September 16, 2007	Sunday	Ramazan 03, 1428

NEW YORK, Sept 15: The dollar steadied on Friday a day after plunging to a record low on the euro, while the pound fell on jitters after a Bank of England bailout of key British lender Northern Rock.

The single European currency dipped to $1.3876 at 2100 GMT, down from 1.3881 late Thursday in New York.

The euro on Thursday soared to a record $1.3927 on fears for the future of the US economy and expectations of a rate cut by the Federal Reserve.

The greenback on Friday was boosted by profit-taking in the euro and risk aversion on the part of investors who saw the dollar as a refuge following the Northern Rock bailout.

The crisis at Northern Rock, a victim of the global credit squeeze that itself was brought on by the sharp downturn in the US housing market, also weighed heavily on the pound.

The pound sank to $2.0075 from 2.0252 on Thursday as customers of Northern Rock rushed to withdraw their savings, forming lengthy queues in front of branches despite assurances that deposits were safe.

Meanwhile US data suggested slowing in the world’s biggest economy but not enough to lead to recession, said analysts.

The US dollar showed signs of life through end-of-week trade, as the greenback shrugged off mediocre advance retail sales data to rally on improved consumer confidence figures, said David Rodriguez at Forex Capital Markets.

Rodriguez said the University of Michigan consumer sentiment index was hardly impressive at 83.8 versus the 83.4 print seen in August, but such data reinforces the view that consumers remain thus far unaffected by credit and real estate market troubles.

He added: Consumer confidence numbers leaves scope for robust consumer spending through the medium term, which would undoubtedly boost the broader economy in the face of a housing recession.

In Washington the Commerce Department said US retail sales rose a weaker-than-expected 0.3 per cent in August. While analysts had been expecting a 0.5 per cent rise, they sought to minimize the impact of the result.

The numbers are consistent with expectations of 2.0 real (economic) growth for the second quarter.

The report comes days ahead of a Federal Reserve meeting where policymakers are expected to consider a cut in rates to help improve credit flows and ease stress in the housing market. —AFP