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NEW YORK — The dollar was little changed Friday against major currencies after European Union leaders moved to calm fears of a financial crisis.
The dollar lost ground against currencies in emerging markets as stock markets moved higher, increasing traders' desire to make riskier bets.
In late trading in New York, the euro slipped to $1.2364 from $1.2379 late Thursday. In overnight trading, it hit a high of $1.2416, its strongest level since late May.
The euro has risen from a four-year low below $1.19 on June 7 after positive economic data from around the world. European leaders' moves to calm investors, who are worried that increasing public debt will trigger a banking crisis, is also helping bolster the currency.
On Thursday, EU leaders meeting in Brussels said they would publish results of "stress tests" of Europe's 25 biggest banks in July. The measure will test banks' financial stability.
"We think this move will promote transparency, allow financially sound banks to seek market refinancing and ultimately instill confidence in European financials," said Credit Suisse foreign exchange analysts in a research note Friday.
Concern that Spain could follow Greece in requiring financial aid also receded somewhat Friday after a successful bond auction and support from EU leaders.
The real estate market collapse and rising unemployment have left Spain's regional banking system struggling.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy, noting that he was speaking on behalf of the 27-nation group, said "we don't believe there is a problem" in Spain.
The threat of a financial crisis spreading across Europe prompted the European Union and International Monetary Fund to put together an emergency financing package in May of more than $900 billion for euro countries.
Spain is a much bigger economy than Greece. A crisis there could have even deeper repercussions for the world economy.
While the euro has been slowly rising this week, analysts question the sustainability of the rally.
"We are still fundamentally bearish on the euro," said UBS analyst Geoffrey Yu.
In other trading in New York, the British pound dipped to $1.4799 from 1.4810, while the dollar slipped to 90.73 Japanese yen from 90.82 yen.
The dollar edged down to 1.0222 Canadian dollars from 1.0284 Canadian dollars, and fell to 1.1098 Swiss francs from 1.1126 francs. It also lost some ground versus currencies in emerging markets in Latin American and Asia, as well as "commodity currencies" such as the Australian dollar.
Currencies of countries that are big commodity exporters tend to trade higher when investors are reassured by better than expected economic news or developments. A rebounding economy would require more commodity exports.
