LONDON (AFP) - The euro rose on Wednesday against the dollar on the back of encouraging economic data from the 16-nation eurozone and the United States that pushed investors towards currencies considered more risky.
The euro was changing hands at 1.4165 dollars in late trading in London after spiking at 1.4171 dollars, compared to 1.4032 dollars late on Tuesday.
The euro also rose against the Japanese yen, which like the US dollar is considered a "safe haven" by traders in more troubled economic times.
The European single currency rose to 136.71 yen against 135.17 yen previously. The dollar also rose to 96.67 yen from 96.30 yen.
The euro rose after a new survey published Wednesday showed manufacturing activity in the 16 countries using the euro hit a nine-month high in June.
The eurozone's purchasing managers' index (PMI) for the manufacturing sector, compiled by data and research group Markit, rose to 42.6 points from 40.7 points in May, slightly above an earlier estimate of 42.4.
In the United States, some worse-than-expected unemployment data offset more optimistic results from home sales and manufacturing.
"The ADP payroll survey is essentially confirming that unemployment across the Atlantic will exceed 10 percent before the year end but elsewhere the green shoots continue to creep out with home sales and ISM manufacturing both exceeding expectations," said David Fineberg from online spread-betting firm CMC Markets.
The ADP survey showed the US private sector shed 473,000 jobs in June, worse than the 395,000 cuts expected by most analysts but lower than 485,000 in May, which was revised from the previous 532,000 figure.
Monthly employment losses in April, May, and June averaged 492,000, a notable improvement over the first three months of the year, when monthly losses averaged 691,000, the ADP National Employment Report said.
Daragh Maher from French investment bank Calyon said the conflicting data had however failed "to deliver a single-minded signal that might have dragged currencies out of their trading ranges."
Investors were also awaiting an interest rate decision from the European Central Bank on Thursday, which is expected to keep the main rate at its record low of 1.0 percent but is under pressure to lower it further.
The yen also faced selling pressure after a smaller-than-expected improvement in Japanese business confidence.
The Bank of Japan said in its quarterly Tankan survey that business confidence among major Japanese manufacturers had improved for the first time in two-and-a-half years.
But many investors were disappointed because they had hoped for a better reading, dealers said.
"The market had thought the confidence index would go up a bit higher," said Masaki Fukui, senior market economist at Mizuho Corporate Bank. "The survey showed the business sentiment still remained cautious."
In trading here on Wednesday, the euro was changing hands at 1.4165 dollars against 1.4032 dollars late on Tuesday, 136.71 yen (135.17), 0.8565 pounds (0.8523) and 1.5241 Swiss francs (1.5244).
The dollar stood at 96.67 yen (96.30) and 1.0776 Swiss francs (1.0858).
The pound was at 1.6513 dollars (1.6459).
On the London Bullion Market, the price of gold rose to 938.25 dollars an ounce from 934.50 dollars an ounce late on Tuesday.
