Investing.com - The dollar swung between small gains and losses against other major currencies in choppy trade on Friday, as Thursday's upbeat corporate earnings reports lifted risk sentiment but concerns over a new Ebola case and Thursday's U.S. jobless data still supported the greenback.
Markets were jittery after The New York Times reported earlier Friday that a doctor in New York City, identified as Craig Spencer, tested positive for the Ebola virus after returning from treating patients in West Africa.
Meanwhile, the dollar remained supported after a report on Thursday showed that U.S. initial jobless claims rose last week, but the underlying trend indicated improving labor market conditions.
EUR/USD was steady at 1.2654 after data on Friday showed that the Gfk German consumer climate index rose to 8.5 in October from 8.4 in September, whose figure was revised up from a previously estimated reading of 8.3.
Analysts had expected the index to fall to 8.0 this month.
GBP/USD edged up 0.16% to 1.6057. In a preliminary report, the Office for National Statistics said U.K. gross domestic product rose 0.7% in the third quarter, in line with expectations, after a 0.9% increase in the three months to June.
Year-on-year, Britain's GDP rose at an annualized rate of 3.0% in the last quarter, as markets had anticipated, down from a 3.2% growth rate in the second quarter.
Elsewhere, the yen held steady near two-week highs against the dollar, with USD/JPY at 108.20, while the Swiss franc edged higher, with USD/CHF easing 0.09% to 0.9531.
The commodity linked dollars broadly stronger, with AUD/USD edging up 0.18% to 0.8775, NZD/USD rising 0.27% to 0.7843, while USD/CAD slipped 0.13% to 1.1217.
The US Dollar Index, which tracks the performance of the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, was steady at 85.89.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to produce a report on new home sales.