The dollar edged up against the euro on Thursday, ahead of key US data and after US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said a strong US currency was "very important" to the United States. Skip related content
In London late morning trade, the euro dipped to 1.4956 dollars, compared with 1.4978 dollars late in New York on Wednesday.
Against the Japanese currency, the dollar eased to 89.79 yen from 89.84 yen late on Wednesday.
In commodity markets, gold prices hit a record high above 1,123 dollars per ounce in early morning deals, as trade was driven by buoyant stock markets and the weak level of the greenback, analysts said.
On the London Bullion Market, gold jumped as high as 1,123.38 dollars an ounce.
"Euro/dollar has sunk lower during European hours in line with the softer tone of stocks," said analyst Jane Foley at Forex.com.
"Unsurprisingly Geithner took the opportunity to reiterate the US Treasury's commitment to strong dollar policy."
Geithner was speaking after a Singapore meeting of 21 finance ministers from the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) group that also includes China, Japan and Russia.
"It is very important to the United States that we have a strong dollar, that we continue to focus on improving our fundamentals, that we sustain confidence in not just the stability of our financial system but in our capacity as a country, as growth recovers, to move our fiscal position back in the balance," Geithner told a news conference.
"That's going to be very important to recovery in the United States," he added.
Geithner also acknowledged that given the importance of the US economy and its currency, "we bear a special responsibility for being a source of stability and strength for the global economy".
Traders were meanwhile on tenterhooks ahead of publication of key US jobless claims data.
"Weekly initial jobless claims will be an initial focus and then numbers from bellwether Wal-Mart will give us an indication into the minds of the US consumer," said CMC Markets analyst James Hughes.
In London on Thursday, the euro was changing hands at 1.4956 dollars against 1.4978 dollars late on Wednesday, at 134.29 yen (134.58), 0.9023 pounds (0.9036) and 1.5109 Swiss francs (1.5100).
The dollar stood at 89.79 yen (89.84) and 1.0102 Swiss francs (1.0078).
The pound was at 1.6573 dollars (1.6572).
On the London Bullion Market, the price of gold later stood at 1,116.60 dollars an ounce from 1,115.25 dollars an ounce late on Wednesday.
