U.S. dollar ticks down

The U.S. dollar weakened in late trading on Thursday.

The dollar index, which measures the greenback against six major peers, dropped by 0.33 percent to 98.819 at 3 p.m. (1900 GMT).

In late New York trading, the euro increased to 1.1710 dollars from 1.1683 dollars in the previous session, and the British pound was up to 1.3446 dollars from 1.3415 dollars in the previous session. The U.S. dollar bought 158.98 Japanese yen, higher than 158.51 Japanese yen of the previous session. The U.S. dollar declined to 0.7904 Swiss francs from 0.7914 Swiss francs, and it fell to 1.3822 Canadian dollars from 1.3849 Canadian dollars. The U.S. dollar lost to 9.2799 Swedish kronor from 9.3069 Swedish kronor.

The heads of the International Energy Agency, International Monetary Fund, World Bank and World Trade Organization warned on Friday that the conflict in the Middle East is putting pressure on global oil supplies and creating growing challenges for markets and the broader economy.

The leaders of the four institutions met on Thursday as part of a high-level coordination group established in April to maximize their response to the energy, trade and economic impacts of the war in the Middle East.

In a joint statement issued a day later, they said global oil stockpiles were shrinking at an unprecedented rate in response to a major disruption to supplies through the Strait of Hormuz.

They warned that unless maritime traffic returns to normal, inventories could continue to fall ahead of the Northern Hemisphere's peak summer oil demand season, heightening concerns over fuel security, market conditions and economic resilience.

The institutions also said the conflict continues to have substantial and highly uneven effects on energy supplies, food security and economic activity across the world.

Although the global economy has remained resilient, they said the burden of the crisis is falling disproportionately on the most vulnerable countries.

On Feb 28, Israel and the United States launched joint attacks on Tehran and several other Iranian cities, killing Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, along with senior military commanders and civilians. Iran responded by launching waves of missile and drone strikes targeting Israel and U.S. assets in the Middle East, and exercising control over traffic through the Strait of Hormuz.

Iran, the United States and Israel reached a ceasefire on April 8 after 40 days of fighting. Over the past few weeks, the two sides have exchanged proposals via Pakistani mediation. In recent days, they have been working to finalize a memorandum of understanding to halt the war.