Dollar rises on European concerns

The U.S. dollar rose against major currencies in late New York trading on Friday as investors feared the contagion of euro zone debt crisis. The yields of Italian 10-year government bonds soared to above 7 percent, a level seen as unsustainable. As the debt crisis spread in European countries, their credit situations were doubted by rating agencies. Moody's on Thursday cut Hungary's credit rating to junk territory. Standard & Poor's downgraded Belgium's sovereign credit rating from "AA+" to "AA" on Friday. The rating agencies'moves raised investors'concerns about the debt crisis contagion. The euro was under pressure and lost 0.87 percent against the dollar on Friday. With no important economic data due out on Friday and stock market closing early due to thanksgiving holiday, investors remained cautious and reluctant to bet heavily in such uncertainty dominated market. The dollar index was slightly up by 0.06 percent on Friday. In late Friday trading, the dollar bought 77.42 Japanese yen, comparing with 77.35 from late Wednesday. The euro fell to 1.3284 dollars from 1.3326. The British pound also fell to 1.5438 dollars from 1.5506. The dollar rose from 0.9207 Swiss francs to 0.9258, and also rose to 1. 0524 Canadian dollars from 1.0485.