Dollar mixed on economic reports, Chinese exports; euro climbs as Portugal sells bonds

Dollar mixed on economic reports, Chinese exports

NEW YORK — The dollar was mixed Wednesday on disappointing U.S. economic reports and a big jump in Chinese exports.

The euro got a boost as Portugal’s successful bond sale helped calm some worries over Europe’s budget problems.

The dollar has surged against the euro this year as debt troubles in Greece and several other countries that use the 16-nation euro have roiled markets, threatening the stability of the region’s monetary union.

The 16-nation euro climbed to $1.3652 in late trading in New York from $1.3590 late Tuesday. Last November, the euro traded above $1.51.

Portugal raised about $1.3 billion in a key bond auction, a week after Greece raised about $6.8 billion.

Both countries have gaping budget deficits and have announced plans to cut spending and raise taxes. The bond sales were an encouraging sign of support from investors.

In the U.S., the Commerce Department said Wednesday that inventories at the wholesale level were reduced 0.2 percent in January following a 1 percent drop in December, even though sales rose for a 10th consecutive month. Economists had expected inventories would post a small increase of 0.2 percent.

Unemployment rose in 30 states in January, the Labor Department said. The data is somewhat better than December, when 43 states reported higher unemployment rates, but worse than November, when rates fell in most states.

The British pound remained pressured as a report showed manufacturing tumbled in January. Prime Minister Gordon Brown warned that the country’s nascent recovery remained “very fragile.” A competitive general election campaign in Britain has led to fears that a coalition government without a majority party in charge may not be able to move quickly on cutting Britain’s big budget deficits and debts.

The British pound slipped to $1.4973 from $1.4987. Earlier in the day, it had fallen as low as $1.4874. That is just above its 10-month low of $1.4784.

Meanwhile, the dollar rose to 90.54 Japanese yen from 89.96 yen.

The safe-haven U.S. currency was lower against many of the heavily-traded currencies, however, as the Chinese customs agency said exports jumped 45.7 percent in February. That signals growing demand across the world for Chinese goods and suggests the global recovery from the recession continues, said Brian Dolan, chief currency strategist at Forex.com.

The dollar nudged up to 1.0264 Canadian dollars from 1.0262 Canadian dollars, but slid to 1.0706 Swiss francs from 1.0759 francs.

The dollar was also lower against the Nordic currencies and many emerging-market currencies in Asia and Latin America.