CURRENCIES: Dollar Buoyed By Safe-haven Buying After Blast

Apparent terrorist bombings in Indonesia left the U.S. dollar slightly higher in relatively quiet trading Friday, analysts said, with the currency attracting modest safe-haven flows.

Blasts hit two hotels in central Jakarta early Friday, claiming at least nine lives.

"A preference for safe-haven assets has been clear in the wake of the two bombings in Indonesia overnight," said Jane Foley, research director at Forex.com. The currency moves, however, have been relatively muted, she said.

The dollar index (DXY), which tracks the greenback against a trade-weighted basket of six major rivals, was at 79.475, up from 79.222 late Thursday.

The dollar bought 94.33 Japanese yen, up from 93.28 yen in late North American trading on Thursday.

The euro changed hands at $1.4119, down from $1.4146 late Thursday, while the British pound bought $1.6357, down from $1.6440.

Traders also closely watched equity markets for direction, with a positive tone in stocks during overseas trading having tempered upside moves by the dollar and the Japanese yen. The dollar maintained gains as U.S. stocks on Wall Street struggled to stay in positive territory.

The greenback remained higher after a government report showed U.S. housing starts rose 3.6% in June to a seasonally adjusted, annual rate of 582,000, the highest level since November and the second month of improvement from a record low in April. Economists surveyed by MarketWatch expected housing starts to continue at a 531,000 pace.

Currency markets had little reaction to reports that U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke said the U.S. wants China to move more quickly to a free-floating exchange rate mechanism for the yuan.

For the week, the dollar index is on pace for a second straight decline from 80.233.

The euro has improved from $1.394, putting it on pace to mark its first weekly gain in three weeks. The Japanese currency has declined from 93.80 yen a week ago.