NEW YORK, May 12 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. dollar firmed up in late trading on Friday as lower-than-expected U.S. consumer sentiment data led to rising demand for safe-haven assets.
The dollar index, which measures the greenback against six major peers, increased 0.62 percent to 102.6852 in late trading.
In late New York trading, the euro was down to 1.0854 U.S. dollars from 1.0918 dollars in the previous session, and the British pound fell to 1.2449 U.S. dollars from 1.2512 dollars in the previous session.
The U.S. dollar bought 135.6600 Japanese yen, higher than 134.5150 Japanese yen of the previous session. The U.S. dollar was up to 0.8979 Swiss franc from 0.8943 Swiss franc, and it increased to 1.3561 Canadian dollars from 1.3489 Canadian dollars. The U.S. dollar increased to 10.3882 Swedish Krona from 10.3322 Swedish Krona.
The University of Michigan's Consumer Survey Center reported Friday that the preliminary consumer sentiment index was 57.7 for May, down from 63.5 for April. It's the lowest reading since November 2022. Economists had expected a reading of 63.0.
"Consumer sentiment tumbled 9 percent amid renewed concerns about the trajectory of the economy, erasing over half of the gains achieved after the all-time historic low from last June," said the University of Michigan's Consumer Survey Center.
"The consumer will likely pull back spending in the coming months and as spending slows, inflation should materially recede by the end of this year," Jeffrey Roach, chief economist at LPL Financial, said on Friday. ■