NEW YORK, Feb. 22 (Xinhua) -- U.S. dollar dropped on Friday, as the market continued to digest negative manufacturing data of the country and investors have been buoyed by hopes in global trade.
Trade optimism continued to shore up investors' risk-on sentiment, as they are closely watching this week's economic and trade consultations between China and the United States in Washington.
The Australian dollar, widely seen as the barometer of global risk mood, was up to 0.7133 dollar from 0.7080 dollar on Friday.
On the economic front, new orders for core U.S.-made capital goods sank an unexpected 0.7 percent, according to the U.S. Bureau of Census on Thursday.
The figure was pulled down by diminishing demands for machinery, computers, and communications equipment, which are all central to the capital goods group.
What's more, the Philadelphia Fed's manufacturing activity index dropped to a reading of minus 4.1 in February, sharply down from the 17.0 in January, which turned negative for the first time since May 2016, according to the Philadelphia Federal Reserve's manufacturing survey on Thursday.
In late New York trading, the euro was up to 1.1338 dollars from 1.1336 dollars in the previous session, and the British pound was up to 1.3060 dollars from 1.3039 U.S. dollars in the previous session. The Australian dollar was up to 0.7133 dollar from 0.7080 dollar.
The U.S. dollar bought 110.69 Japanese yen, higher than 110.66 Japanese yen of the previous session. The U.S. dollar fell to 1.0001 Swiss franc from 1.0013 Swiss franc, and it was down to 1.3138 Canadian dollars from 1.3224 Canadian dollars. Enditem
