NEW YORK, March 1: The dollar was mixed on Friday with many investors sidelined amid conflicting Middle East signals ahead of chief UN weapons inspector Hans Blix’s weekend report on Iraq before the UN Security Council.

The euro rose to $1.0804 against 1.0738 late on Thursday in New York.

But the dollar rose to 118.11 yen from 117.73 on Thursday.

We’re still very much rangebound. I think most of the medium-term players are out of the market and on the sidelines, said Paul Mackel, currency strategist at Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein.

Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein’s decision to accept in principle the UN’s request to begin destroying its banned al-Samoud 2 missiles on Saturday triggered a rally in the dollar Thursday, but the rebound soon tapered off after President George W. Bush warned that the action was not enough to save Iraq’s regime.

Investors were also confused about conflicting reports on Blix’s supposed statement. The BBC quoted a draft of Blix’s report as saying that Iraq’s disarmament has been very limited.

However, on Friday Blix said Iraq has become “very active” in its efforts to disarm in recent days.

The dollar ticked up slightly after stronger-than-expected US data, including a revision of US gross domestic product showing sharper than expected growth of 1.4pc.

The Chicago Purchasing Management Association said its index of regional business activity fell to 54.9 in February from 56.0 in January.

This was a higher level than expected, and showed that manufacturing in the Chicago region had expanded for the fourth straight month.

While the Bank of England and European Central Bank will meet to set interest rate policy next week, and the US and Europe will release manufacturing surveys, “data are taking a backseat” to geopolitics, Mackel said.

They may not be enough to shake the market out of narrow ranges, he concluded.

The dollar was being quoted in late trade at 1.3514 Swiss francs from 1.3609 Thursday.

The pound was at 1.5726 dollars after 1.5778 late on Thursday. —AFP