Investing.com - The U.S. dollar moved higher against its major counterparts in Asian trade Friday, lifted by a four-day winning streak on Wall Street and prospects for progress on Europe’s debt crisis.
In mid-day Asian trade, the greenback was higher against the euro, with EUR/USD falling 0.18% to hit 1.3851.
Earlier Thursday, the European Central Bank, the U.S. Federal Reserve and other central banks said they would coordinate an extension of loans to euro-zone banks, in an effort to secure enough cash for them to operate through the end of the year.
U.S. stocks rallied for a fourth straight day, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average rising 1.66%, the Nasdaq Composite Index was lifted 1.34%, and the S&P 500 climbed 1.72%.
Separately Thursday, the U.S. Federal Reserve announced that industrial production rose by a seasonally adjusted 0.2% in August, just above market expectations of a 0.1% gain, and following a 0.9% rise in July.
And the U.S. Department of Labor reported that the number of Americans filing for jobless benefits rose unexpectedly for the week ending September 9, up by 11,000 to a seasonally adjusted 428,000.
Economists had forecast a decline to 410,000 for the week.
Meanwhile, the greenback was higher against the British pound, with GBP/USD down by 0.04% to hit 1.5794.
The dollar was higher against both the Japanese yen and the Swiss franc with USD/JPY gaining 0.12% to hit 76.81, and USD/CHF up by 0.22% to hit 0.8714.
The greenback was higher against its Canadian, Australian and New Zealand counterparts with USD/CAD up 0.04% to hit 0.9840, AUD/USD lower by 0.08% to hit 1.0318, and NZD/USD falling 0.07% to hit 0.8228.
The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, was up 0.16% at 76.91.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, was scheduled to meet with European finance leaders later Friday in Poland to discuss an expansion of the euro region’s new bailout fund.