Investing.com - The U.S. dollar was mixed against its major counterparts in U.S. trade Friday, following an announcement by European finance officials that a coordinated effort was needed to contain the spread of debt contagion in the euro-zone.
In afternoon U.S. trade, the greenback was lower against the euro, with EUR/USD rising 0.05% to hit 1.3471.
Late Thursday, finance ministers and central bank governors from the Group of 20 major economies vowed a coordinated effort to resolve Europe’s financial crisis.
In a statement issued from Washington where the International Monetary Fund was holdings its annual meeting, the G-20 said it would be working in the next few weeks to expand the powers of the USD595 billion rescue fund to support troubled banks.
Officials added the group’s aim was to “increase the flexibility” of the European Financial Stability Facility and “maximize its impact.”
G-20 officials had not planned on issuing a statement but decided to make a public announcement following recent sharp downturns on global equity markets and persistent fears of a contagion of euro-zone sovereign debt.
“We will ensure that banks are adequately capitalized and have sufficient access to funding to deal with current risks,” the statement said.
But enthusiasm for the greenback was tempered by remarks from European Central Bank Governing Council member Klaas Knot, who was quoted in a Dutch newspaper saying that Greek default could no longer be ruled out.
“All efforts are aimed at preventing this, but I am now less certain in excluding bankruptcy than I was a few months ago,” Knot, who heads the Dutch central bank, told Reuter’s news.
Wall Street shares were mixed in late session trading Friday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average down 0.17% to 10,715.80, while the Nasdaq Composite Index gained 0.68% to 2,472.40, and the S&P 500 advanced 0.29% to trade at 1,132.89.
Meanwhile, the greenback was down against the British pound, with GBP/USD rising 0.83% to hit 1.5472.
The dollar was higher against the Japanese yen but down against the Swiss franc with USD/JPY advancing 0.63% to hit 76.71, and USD/CHF lower by 0.47% to hit 0.9043.
The greenback was mixed against its Canadian, Australian and New Zealand counterparts with USD/CAD up 0.13% to hit 1.0297, AUD/USD higher by 0.25% to hit 0.9766, and NZD/USD falling 0.58% to hit 0.7756.
The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, was down 0.10% at 78.98.
The International Monetary Fund and World Bank annual meeting in Washington was scheduled to conclude later Friday.