US dollar mixed against major currencies

The U.S. dollar traded mixed against major currencies on Friday. The dollar continued rising against Japanese yen after Japan launched massive fiscal stimulus package but it fell against the euro as the European Central Bank didn't cut benchmark interest rates after Thursday's meeting. The Commerce Department said Friday that U.S. trade deficit widened to 48.7 billion dollars in November, putting pressure on the dollar. The deficit increase was partly attributed to exports for holiday related products. The dollar strengthened against the yen for a third day and broke through the level of 89. The Japanese cabinet on Friday approved a stimulus package of 20 trillion yen (about 224 billion U.S. dollars), aiming to shore up Japan's current stagnant economy by beating chronic deflation and tackling the strong yen. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said the package will create 600,000 jobs. Moreover, it is expected that the Bank of Japan would expand easing measures under the pressure of Abe. The Bank of Japan will hold its policy meeting on Jan. 21 to Jan. 22. The euro surged against the dollar on Friday after the ECB Thursday decided to keep its benchmark interest rate at 0.75 percent. Additionally, ECB president Mario Draghi said after the meeting that later in 2013, economic activity should gradually recover in the euro area, indicating raising interest rate may not be necessary. In late New York trading, the euro soared to 1.3339 dollars from 1.3254 dollars of the previous session and the British pound slipped to 1.6122 dollars from 1.6184. The dollar slightly dropped to 0.9130 Swiss francs from 0.9146 and went down to 0.9839 Canadian dollars from 0.9843. The dollar bought 89.18 Japanese yen, higher than 88.19 in the previous session.