The dollar was basking on Friday in the afterglow of US figures which rekindled expectations of a pick-up in the world's biggest economy later this year

The single European currency stood at $1.1208 against $1.1203 late on Thursday in New York, some way below an all-time high point of $1.1933 reached in late May. The dollar traded at 119.08 yen from 118.78 on Thursday. "Although the earnings season has checked the equity market rally for now, alleviating some of the pressure on fixed income markets, in general the macro backdrop continues to evolve in a dollar positive fashion," said Steve Pearson, economist at British bank HBOS. Prospects of a US economic recovery appeared to brighten after a closely watched index from the Philadelphia Federal Reserve Bank showed on Thursday a sharp improvement in activity in the US manufacturing sector in the Philadelphia region. But losses on US stock markets dulled some of the dollar's shine as dealers picked over a feast of corporate news. New York's Dow Jones industrials dipped 0.5 per cent on Thursday while the tech-heavy Nasdaq plunged 2.9 per cent. And Commerzbank strategist Nick Parsons said it was too soon to declare an end to the dollar's downturn. "The question everyone is asking is whether this is the end of the 18-month bear market.