Dollar touches three-week high

The dollar scaled three-week peaks on Friday, supported by better-than-forecast US retail sales data released on Thursday that backed expectations for a reduction of asset purchases by the Federal Reserve before the end of the year.

The dollar index, a gauge of the greenback’s value against six

major currencies, rose to 93.220, the highest since the third week of August. It was last up 0.4 per cent at 93.207.

For the week, the dollar index gained 0.6 per cent, its largest weekly percentage rise since mid-August.