A gauge of the dollar extended losses in Asia as traders awaited the release of US non-farm payrolls data for clues about any Federal Reserve rate cuts. The Australian and New Zealand dollars rallied with commodity prices.
The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index edged lower, following a weak ISM Services report and comments by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell saying it will likely be appropriate to begin lowering interest rates "at some point this year".
That's after the greenback lost about 0.4% on Wednesday, its worst decline in over a week.
The Fed Chair said recent inflation figures — though higher than expected — did not "materially change" the overall picture. On a more sobering footing Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta President Raphael Bostic said prior to Powell that he saw only one rate cut and that wasn't to come until 4Q.
Commodity currencies outperformed as oil kept rallying and gold touched a fresh record high.
Yield on 10-year Treasuries rose two basis points to 4.37%.
Brent crude edged closer toward $90 a barrel after climbing more than 2% over the previous two sessions, while West Texas Intermediate was near $86.
AUD/USD gained 0.3% to 0.6587 and NZD/USD added 0.4% to 0.6031.
USD/JPY little changed at 151.69.
EUR/USD was up 0.1% to 1.0845.
Source : Bloomberg
