Dollar rises over euro before eurozone data

The euro also lost ground to the Japanese currency, falling to 134.42 yen from 134.58 yen late on Wednesday.

The dollar rose against the euro Thursday as the US Treasury Secretary talked up the need for a strong greenback, but his remarks came ahead of eurozone growth data expected to boost the European single currency.

The euro was changing hands at 1.4866 dollars late in London on Thursday, compared to 1.4978 dollars late in New York on Wednesday.

The euro also lost ground to the Japanese currency, falling to 134.42 yen from 134.58 yen late on Wednesday.

The dollar meanwhile rose to 90.42 yen from 89.84 yen previously.

The gains in the dollar - may indicate that investors could start to move their money away from risk and back into safe havens - said Joshua Raymond, market strategist at financial spread-betting company City Index.

- However, given the severe weakness of the dollar, this could purely be a bit of bargain hunting - he said.

The euro is considered a riskier and therefore more high-yielding buy on currency markets and so tends to do better amid greater economic confidence, while the "safe-haven" dollar does better in more troubled times.

On commodity markets, gold prices touched record highs above 1,123 dollars per ounce in morning deals, as trade was driven by buoyant stock markets and the weak level of the dollar in earlier trading, analysts said.

On the London Bullion Market, the price of gold jumped as high as 1,123.38 dollars an ounce. It later fell to 1,114.75 dollars, slightly lower than its closing value of 1,115.25 dollars on Wednesday.

- Euro/dollar has sunk lower during European hours in line with the softer tone of stocks - said analyst Jane Foley at Forex.

- Unsurprisingly (US Treasury Secretary Timothy) Geithner took the opportunity to reiterate the US Treasury's commitment to strong dollar policy. -

Geithner was speaking after a Singapore meeting of 21 finance ministers from the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) group that also includes China, Japan and Russia.

- It is very important to the United States that we have a strong dollar - Geithner told a news conference.

- That's going to be very important to recovery in the United States. -

Geithner also acknowledged that given the importance of the US economy and its currency - we bear a special responsibility for being a source of stability and strength for the global economy. -

Traders were also awaiting eurozone economic growth data on Friday that is expected to show that the 16-nation euro area as a whole emerged from recession in the third quarter.

There was some encouragement from the United States too after initial claims for US jobless insurance benefits fell for a second straight week, suggesting a modest improvement in the troubled labour market.

In London on Thursday, the euro was changing hands at 1.4866 dollars against 1.4978 dollars late on Wednesday, at 134.42 yen (134.58), 0.8987 pounds (0.9036) and 1.5105 Swiss francs (1.5100).

The dollar stood at 90.42 yen (89.84) and 1.0161 Swiss francs (1.0078).

The pound was at 1.6542 dollars (1.6572).