Mubasher: Initial estimates released by the University of Michigan suggested that the US consumer confidence improved by the first half of March.

The consumer sentiment index rose to 97.8 points in March, compared with 93.8 in February, a survey report by Michigan University said on Friday.

The index for current economic conditions also rose 2.5% to 108.5 points month-on-month in March, but dropped 8.3% from the reading for the same month last year.

Moreover, the expectation index climbed 5.7% to 89.2 points in early March from the previous month, with a 0.5% year-on-year gain.

By 2:00 pm GMT, the US dollar index went down 0.21% to 96.5830.