The euro hovered at a two-week low with support at $1.13. The single currency was briefly set for its steepest weekly drop in four months earlier on Friday in the wake of data that showed an economic slowdown in Europe was spreading. "The rally that propelled the dollar broadly higher last year has enjoyed renewed life with US growth remaining solid while peers abroad lose momentum," said Joe Manimbo, senior market analyst at Western Union Business Solutions in Washington.
At 10:35 a.m. ET (1535 GMT), an index that tracks the greenback versus the euro, yen, sterling and three other currencies was up 0.07 percent at 96.570. On the week, the ICE dollar index was up nearly 1 percent, which would be its biggest weekly increase since a 1.28 percent jump in the week of August 10, 2018.
The euro was down 0.05 percent at $1.13320, putting its weekly decline at about 0.9 percent. The European Commission cut its growth and inflation forecasts on Thursday as downside surprises to German and Spanish industrial orders fueled worries about an accelerating slowdown.
Those figure have weighed on local bond markets. Core European government debt yields touched their lowest in over two years. Benchmark German yields were just 10 basis points away from zero percent. Anxieties about the global economy were compounded by comments from US President Donald Trump indicating he did not plan to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping before a March 1 deadline to achieve a trade deal.
That helped the perceived safe-haven currencies such as the Japanese yen and the Swiss Franc hold up against the dollar. The dollar was last at 109.75 yen, while the greenback was down 0.22 percent at 1.00025 Swiss franc. Sterling was marginally lower at $1.2947. Traders expect the pound to remain volatile because of the uncertainty surrounding Brexit.