Dollar Cheers Up as Fed Rate Rise Looms By Christina Fincher LONDON (Reuters) - The dollar rose toward this week's highs against the euro and the yen on Friday as investors speculated an upcoming U.S. central bank meeting could hint at interest rates climbing at a faster pace. Markets have already priced in a quarter-point rise in U.S. rates next Tuesday and attention will focus on whether the Federal Reserve's post-meeting report indicates it is willing to take more aggressive action in coming months. After heavy selling in the past month, the dollar has steadied this week, helped by figures showing foreign buying of U.S. assets has been more than enough to cover the United States' huge trade deficit. "There is a sense that the dollar's sell-off has moved very far very quickly and a lot of dollar-positive cyclical numbers have been ignored," said Daragh Maher, currency strategist at Calyon. The dollar -- which fell to two-month lows against the euro and six week lows against the yen last week -- rose almost half a percent against both currencies to stand at $1.3312 per euro and 104.92 yen by 6 a.m. EST. The Swiss franc continued to suffer after Switzerland's central bank left interest rates unchanged on Thursday and signaled it was in no rush to tighten policy while the country's economic recovery remain fragile. The Swiss franc was down more than half a percent against the dollar, extending losses from the previous session. OPPOSING FORCES The dollar has yo-yoed this year between optimism about the U.S. economy and the upward path of U.S. interest rates, and pessimism over the United States' ability to finance its record current account deficit. Such pessimism eased this week after data showed net capital inflows into the United States surged to $91.5 billion in January, the second biggest inflow on record and more than enough to finance the nation's current account deficit. Rising U.S. rates are likely to bring back some of the funds that have poured into assets that have boomed this year, including stocks in other countries and commodities.     Continued ... Quelle "Dollar Cheers Up as Fed Rate Rise Looms" : reuters.com Main page for "Dollar Cheers Up as Fed Rate Rise Looms"