NEW YORK- The dollar gave up gains from early on Friday as traders tidied positions ahead of month-end and a holiday weekend after seeing new economic data confirm expectations about US inflation and the recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.
The dollar index of major currencies rose as much as 0.4 percent during the day in a sharp rebound from 4-1/2 month lows plumbed on Tuesday before it fell back to flat for the day and the week at 89.99.
Ending with little change was a break from the down trend since March that had taken 3 percent from the dollar’s value as other major economies began to catch up with vaccination rates in the United States. At the same time, central banks in some other countries had appeared likely to move more quickly than the US Federal Reserve to back away from easy money policies and let interest rates rise.
The euro was up a bare 0.05 percent at $1.22 on Friday afternoon, compared with a four-month high of $1.2266 earlier in the week.
The British pound was flat at $1.4199, continuing its recent struggle to stay above $1.42.
On Monday, the United States and Britain have public holidays.
The US economic data had been seen as the big scheduled news of the week, but it did not move bond and stock markets much when it was released in the morning.
The data showed that consumer prices increased in April far beyond the Federal Reserve’s 2 percent annual rate target.
