Dollar firm

Hot now

NEW YORK: The dollar rose on Friday after upbeat U.S. gross domestic product data, while sterling suffered its worst fall since mid-January after a poll showed a narrowing lead for the ruling Conservatives before elections next month.The dollar index, which tracks the greenback against six major rivals, was up 0.18 percent to 97.423, after rising to a one-week high of 97.548, earlier in the session.

The U.S. economy slowed less than initially thought in the first quarter. Gross domestic product increased at a 1.2 percent annual rate instead of the 0.7 percent pace reported last month, the Commerce Department said on Friday.

"The GDP figure was a pleasant surprise. I don’t think markets were looking for a revision this big," said Sireen Harajli, FX strategist at Mizuho in New York.

"It confirms or at least gives some relief to the idea that the weakness that we had seen in economic performance is likely to be transitory."

The greenback weakened earlier this week after minutes of the Federal Reserve's most recent meeting showed policymakers agreed they should hold off on raising interest rates until it was clear a recent U.S. economic slowdown was temporary.