(Bloomberg) – The dollar rose against the yen after an index of U.S. consumer sentiment climbed in June to the highest level in more than two years, fueling speculation the nation’s economy may be able to weather Europe’s debt crisis.
The greenback briefly reversed an earlier advance against the Japanese currency after an unexpected drop in U.S. retail sales raised concern consumer strength is ebbing. The yen fell against most of its major counterparts as stocks erased losses, boosting investor appetite for assets linked to growth. The Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan index of consumer sentiment increased to 75.5, the highest since January 2008.
“The Michigan sentiment number was better than expected,” said Richard Franulovich, a senior currency strategist at Westpac Banking Corp. in New York. “That’s helped risk sentiment.”
The dollar gained 0.4 percent to 91.70 yen, from 91.34 yen yesterday, at 10:35 a.m. in New York. The greenback was little changed versus the euro at $1.2108, from $1.2124 yesterday. It earlier fell as much as 0.2 percent and rose 0.4 percent. The euro rose 0.3 percent to 111.09 yen, from 110.72 yen, gaining 1 percent for the week.
The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index was little changed after falling 0.9 percent earlier.
–With assistance from Bo Nielsen in Copenhagen. Editors: Greg Storey, Dennis Fitzgerald
To contact the reporters on this story: Ben Levisohn in New York at blevisohn@bloomberg.net;
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Dave Liedtka at dliedtka@bloomberg.net

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