The euro resumed its rise on Friday against the greenback, a safe haven abandoned by foreign exchange traders, who favor riskier assets.

Around 19:00 GMT (20:00 in Paris), the euro gained 0.36% against the dollar, to 1.1956 dollars per euro.

"The euro has quietly passed the $1.19 mark in recent sessions, without there being a big movement in the markets and while some information could have weighed on the European currency," said You-Na Park-Heger, an analyst at Commerzbank.

The euro had fallen slightly on Thursday against the dollar.

The minutes of the latest meeting of the European Central Bank (ECB), published on Thursday afternoon, reinforced the idea that the institution would increase its support for the eurozone economy at its December meeting.

"The euro is also vulnerable to the conflict over the European Union budget," which Poland and Hungary vetoed last week.

But these elements were relegated to the background on Friday, the greenback retreating against the European single currency and several other currencies.

The dollar index, which measures the value of the US currency against a basket of major currencies, was down 0.18%, close to its low of the year, reached in early September.

"Investors are looking for riskier assets due to a renewed appetite for risk with the prospect of a less chaotic transition than expected between the Trump administration and the Biden administration" in the United States, says Joe Manimbo of Western Union.

"Hopes around a Vaccine against Covid-19 are another element justifying the poor performance of the dollar this week," adds the expert.

Friday Classes Thursday Classes

19:00 GMT 22:00 GMT

EUR/USD 1.1956 1.1913

EUR/JPY 124.39 124.22

EUR/CHF 1.0819 1.0805

EUR/GBP 0.8987 0.8919

USD/JPY 104.04 104.26

USD/CHF 0.9049 0.9070

GBP/USD 1.3304 1.3358