The US dollar was weaker versus the yen and about the same versus the euro on Thursday on bad news about US manufacturing.

April production by factories, mines and utilities dropped by 0.7 percent in April while the New York Federal Reserve’s general economic index, which indicates manufacturing in that region, was at minus 3.2 in May, down from 0.6 in April.

In slightly better news, the Philadelphia Fed’s manufacturing index was at minus 15.6 in May, still in contraction but not by as much as had been anticipated.

The euro, meanwhile, was helped by new data showing that the European economy grew more than expected in the first quarter and by consumer prices in the eurozone region that were up 3.3 percent in April from the same time last year, although prices were down slightly from March.

At just past 10:30 a.m. in New York it took \104.7950 to buy a dollar while the greenback traded at $1.5472 to the euro.

The pound was down versus the euro while it remained little changed in relation to the US dollar, trading at 79.57p to the euro while it took $1.9445 to buy a pound.

The New Zealand dollar traded as low as 75.58 cents US to the kiwi and was at 75.75 cents US in morning trade in New York after new data showed that retail sales in New Zealand were down by 1.2 percent in March from February’s levels, much more of a contraction than had been expected.

Declines in employment and house sales were further indications that the New Zealand economy’s growth is slowing, spurring speculation that interest rates are likely to drop soon.