Investing.com - The U.S. dollar moved higher against its major counterparts in U.S. trade Friday, lifted by gains on Wall Street and hopes for progress on Europe’s debt crisis.
In afternoon U.S. trade, the greenback was higher against the euro, with EUR/USD falling 0.62% to hit 1.3791.
Speaking from a meeting of euro-zone finance ministers in Poland Friday, Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker said a decision on the next round of Greek aid would be made in October.
The ECB announced it would be providing U.S. dollar loans to European banks in order to provide them with enough cash through the end of the year, in a coordinated effort along with the U.S. Federal Reserve Bank, the Bank of England, the Bank of Japan and the Swiss National Bank.
Also attending the meeting was U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, who urged finance ministers to work together with the European Central Bank to address the region’s debt crisis and embellish the power of the current rescue fund.
Earlier Friday, the University of Michigan released its report on U.S. consumer sentiment showing a more-than-expected gain to 57.8 in August, up from 55.7 in the previous month. Economists had forecast the index to hit 56.0 last month.
Wall Street shares were on track to add gains for the fifth consecutive day, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average rising 0.51% to 11,491.40, the Nasdaq Composite Index gained 0.31% to 2,615.19, and the S&P 500 advanced 0.3% to trade at 1,212.71.
Meanwhile, the greenback was up against the British pound, with GBP/USD slipping 0.1% to hit 1.5783.
The dollar was higher against the Japanese yen and the Swiss franc with USD/JPY advancing 0.2% to hit 76.86, and USD/CHF higher by 0.72% to hit 0.8756.
The greenback was lower against its Canadian, Australian and New Zealand counterparts with USD/CAD down 0.36% to hit 0.9800, AUD/USD up 0.34% to hit 1.0363, and NZD/USD rising 0.67% to hit 0.8290.
The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, was up 0.44% at 77.12.
European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet was scheduled to give a speech after the conclusion of the meeting in Wroclaw, Poland later Friday.