Euro settles higher versus dollar before the weekend

Euro tilted higher in American trade against the dollar, remaining nonetheless below 1.18 for the fourth session in a row, and heading for the first weekly loss in six, following an array of data from the euro zone and the US. 

As of 05:30 GMT, EUR/USD rose 0.21% to 1.1748 from the opening of 1.1723, with an intraday high at 1.1774, and a low at 1.1709. 

Earlier German data showed producer prices rose 0.2% in July, compared to June's no-change reading, while on a yearly basis, prices slowed down to 2.3% from 2.4%, besting expectations of 2.2%. 

For the whole region, the seasonally-adjusted reading for the current account showed a surplus of 21.2 billion barrels in June, down from 30.5 billion in Mat, and missing expectations of 27.3 billion, while the unadjusted reading showed a surplus of 28.1 billion, up sharply from 17.9 billion in May. 

Otherwise from the US, University of Michigan released its preliminary reading for the consumer sentiment survey, which came at 97.6 in August, compared to July's 93.4, and comfortably beating expectations of 94.0. 

The current economic conditions index in the same survey fell to 111.0 from 113.4, while the economic outlook index rose to 89.0 from 80.5 last month. 

Inflation outlook for one year steadied at 2.6%, the same as July, while five-year inflation outlook fell to 2.5% from 2.6%, and finally, Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas President Robert Kaplan spoke at the Dallas County Community College, where he expressed his belief GDP growth will be above 2% this year.