Dollar ticks up

TOKYO: The dollar ticked up against the yen and euro on Friday after days of losses linked to weak US data that have weighed on hopes for an imminent Federal Reserve rate hike.
In Tokyo, the greenback rose to 119.40 yen from 119.19 yen in New York, while the euro was slightly weaker at $1.1409 against $1.1414.
The 19-nation Eurozone unit strengthened to 136.14 yen from 136.04 yen in US trade, underpinned by bright Eurozone economic growth data.
By contrast, the US has seen a string of soft figures lately.
On Thursday, US producer price index fell 0.4 percent last month more than wiped out March´s first increase since October and fell well short of forecasts for a 0.2 percent rise. That came a day after news that retail sales saw their weakest year-on-year growth since 2009.
The results follow other poor recent indicators — including anaemic wage growth, a tepid manufacturing sector and weak economic growth — that have thrown cold water on hopes that the Fed will raise interest rates soon, a hike that would be a plus for the dollar.