Dollar Down

The dollar was lower in Asia on Friday morning. However, it was on track for its best week in seven months. After investors increased bets on multiple US interest rate hikes in 2022, the US currency broke through key levels against the euro.

The US Dollar Index, which measures the greenback’s value against a basket of other currencies, fell 0.12 percent to 97.127. Since July 2020, the index surpassed the 97-point mark for the first time. The Federal Reserve of the United States took a hawkish stance on Wednesday’s policy decision, fueling bets on five or more interest rate hikes in 2022.

So much for analysts hastily concluding that the dollar rally was over after the early-year divergence between rising US interest rates and a falling dollar.

Meanwhile, the prospect of the People’s Bank of China going in the opposite direction as the Fed, made more likely by weak industrial profit growth data earlier this week, propelled the dollar to its best session in seven months against the yuan. The pound was near a one-month low on the other side of the Atlantic. The Bank of England announced its policy decision the following week. The European Central Bank and the Reserve Bank of Australia will also present their monetary policies.

According to some investors, the dollar’s rally is losing steam as economies and central banks worldwide slowly emerge from COVID-19.

The dollar is at a cycle high and has room to rise further as interest rate differentials and increased market volatility provide support.

As the global economy recovers from the worst of COVID-19 in 2022, the market’s attention will shift to monetary policy normalization and growth outside of the United States.

Currencies

The US Dollar Index, which measures the greenback against a basket of other currencies, had fallen 0.12 percent to 97.127. Since July 2020, the index surpassed the 97-point mark for the first time.

The USD/JPY pair rose 0.07 percent to 115.41. In comparison, Japan’s Tokyo core consumer price index increased 0.2 percent year on year in January.

The AUD/USD pair rose 0.21 percent to 0.7046. Australia’s producer price index increased 1.3 percent quarter on quarter and 3.7 percent year on year in the fourth quarter of 2021. The NZD/USD exchange rate advanced 0.03 percent to 0.6583.

The USD/CNY pair fell 0.14 percent to 6.3593, while the GBP/USD pair rose 0.13 percent to 1.3403.

During the previous session, the euro fell nearly 0.9 percent to a 20-month low of $1.1131. In comparison, the dollar gained 1.7 percent on the euro and 2 percent or more on the riskier Antipodean currencies.