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FOREX-Dollar rises on stronger US housing, industrial data

Published 02/17/2010, 10:09 AM
Updated 02/17/2010, 10:12 AM

* Dollar rises on stronger housing and industrial data

* Euro slips vs dollar as traders book profits on rally

* Investors await FOMC minutes for clues to rate outlook (Recasts, adds comments. Updates prices)

By Vivianne Rodrigues

NEW YORK, Feb 17 (Reuters) - The dollar rose broadly on Wednesday, supported by signs of improvement in the U.S. housing sector and a better-than-expected industrial output reading in January, while Greece's fiscal woes still weighed on the euro.

The single currency failed to sustain early gains against the dollar as traders booked profits from a rally on Tuesday. Declines in the euro accelerated as reports showed U.S. housing starts, as well as industrial output, rose more strongly than expected in January. For details, see [ID:nN17114831].

Analysts said such signs of improvement in the U.S. economy will support the dollar, while sentiment on the euro remains bearish.

"We have seen the dollar rally a bit (after the reports)," said John Doyle, a currency strategist at Tempus Consulting in Washington. "The data has come out slightly more positive than expected."

In morning trading in New York, the dollar was 1 percent higher at 90.99 yen , after touching a session high of 91.11 yen in the aftermath of the data.

The euro fell 0.5 percent to $1.3705 , after trading as high as $1.3779 on Tuesday.

After its jump on Tuesday, the euro's rally ran out of steam even as Greece won a one-month reprieve to take steps to put its fiscal house in order.

European finance ministers on Tuesday gave Greece until March 16 to show its deficit reduction plan was being rolled out effectively. They set the same deadline for themselves to decide what should happen next. [ID:nLDE61F0XT]

"It is possible that an immediate crisis for EMU has been sidestepped," said Jane Foley, research director at Forex.com in London. "However, in terms of structural reform, one month is a drop in the ocean ... It is very likely that the uncertainties surrounding the Greek budget and the pressures on the euro will re-emerge."

The euro has fallen more than 4 percent against the dollar since the start of the year on concerns about Greece's fiscal health and other euro zone peripheral countries, and currency speculators raised net euro short positions to a record high last week.

FOMC MINUTES EYED

Doyle at Tempus Consulting said the focus now may shift to the Federal Reserve's January policy meeting minutes, due out at 2 p.m. (1900 GMT) for insights into the U.S. central bank's exit strategy.

Kansas City Fed President Thomas Hoenig, who dissented at the meeting against the Fed's pledge to keep rates low for an "extended period," said on Tuesday the central bank should shed some of the assets it bought to stabilize the economy during the global financial crisis. [ID:nN16114707]

"When you have one FOMC member voting in favor of more hawkish language in the monetary policy statement, additional members are likely to follow suit and traders will be looking to see if this sentiment is reflected in the minutes," Kathy Lien, director of currency research at GFT said in a note. "If the minutes reveal optimism, it could fuel further gains in the dollar." (Additional reporting by Wanfeng Zhou in New York and Tamawa Desai in London; Editing by Andrea Ricci)

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