Euro edges up against dollar

Published April 6, 2002

LONDON, April 5: The euro edged up against the dollar on Friday, taking advantage of disappointing employment figures in the United States.

The single European currency in late-day deals was at 0.8799 dollars against 0.8767 late Thursday.

The dollar slipped to 131.73 yen from 132.38 on Thursday.

But the greenback suffered from an announcement later on Friday that unemployment in the United States rose 0.2 points in March over February to 5.7 per cent — the sharpest jump since December.

Analysts were predicting a jobless rate of 5.6 percent.

The euro was being traded at 116.12 yen (116.4616). The dollar was worth 1.6632 Swiss francs (1.6666). Sterling bought 1.4355 dollars (1.4336), 189.10 yen (189.78) and 2.3874 Swiss francs (2.3897).—AFP