The dollar rose versus most Group-of-10 currencies as US data continued to exhibit signs of a robust economy. The Australian dollar fell tracking yuan losses after China's central bank set a weaker currency reference rate.
The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index rose 0.1%, taking weekly gains to 0.6%, set for the most since the week ended Jan. 19. The US reported an unexpected drop in weekly jobless claims, an improving S&P manufacturing PMI, a surge in existing home sales and the first positive monthly reading for leading indicators since February 2022.
The dollar was also bolstered as the Swiss National Bank's surprise rate cut and bets that the Bank of England will ease policy made the Federal Reserve look more hawkish than some of its peers.
AUD/USD fell 0.6% to 0.6533 and NZD/USD dropped 0.4% to 0.6018 as the onshore yuan slid beyond 7.2 per dollar, the lowest since November after the People's Bank of China set a weaker currency fixing on Friday.
USD/JPY little changed at 151.77 after gaining in the last eight sessions.
Consumer prices excluding fresh food in Japan rose 2.8% in February from a year ago, with the pace speeding up from 2% in January, the ministry of internal affairs said Friday.
Source : Bloomberg
