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FRANKFURT, Germany — The euro rose against the dollar Friday as oil prices leveled out somewhat from record prices.
The 15-nation euro bought $1.5725 in European morning trading, up from $1.5699 in late New York trading Thursday.
In other currencies, the British pound edged higher to $1.9792 from $1.9782 after the government reported better-than-expected retail sales ahead of the first-quarter gross domestic product figures to be released later Friday.
The dollar declined to 104.10 Japanese yen from 105.26 yen the day before.
Midday Friday in Singapore, oil was up 35 cents at $131.16 (83.50 euros) a barrel in electronic trading, tumbling around $4 (euro2.54) overnight from above the record $135 (euro85.92) it bought Thursday.
Concern about falling oil supplies and rising demand are expected to keep propelling prices higher in the days and weeks to come.
Euro-dollar trade has recently tracked the rise and fall of oil prices. Surging oil has weighed on the global economy, compounding inflation worries and fears that consumers will spend less as fuel takes up a larger part of their income. But Europe’s economy is seen as more resilient to sky-high oil than the U.S.
“Oil hitting $135 is becoming scary,” said analyst Michael Gallagher at IDEAGlobal in New York. “but many feel that highs in excess of $150 will be seen soon as supplies look tight and demand for distillate continues to grow.”
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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Senator Dianne Feinstein, Democrat of California, derisively accused the executives of trying to portray themselves and their companies as victims.
“To me it was just a litany of complaints that you are all just hapless victims of a system, you blame one thing or another, which most people would say is just simply the cost of doing business,” Ms. Feinstein said. “Yet you rack up record profits, record profits, quarter after quarter after quarter, and apparently have no ethical compass about the price of gasoline.”