The U.S. dollar gained on Friday as U.S. government bond yields held near one-year highs, while riskier currencies such as the Aussie dollar weakened.
Yields have surged as an acceleration in the pace of vaccinations globally and optimism over improving global growth bolster bets that inflation will rise. That has also led investors to price in earlier monetary tightening than the Federal Reserve and other central banks have signaled.
The dollar move is “a function of what’s happening on the yields side,” said Jeremy Stretch, head of G10 FX strategy at CIBC World Markets.
The dollar index rose 0.59% to 90.847, its highest level in a week.
It gained against the yen, touching 106.69 for the first time since September.
The benchmark 10-year Treasury yield surged above 1.6% on Thursday for the first time in a year after a weak seven-year note auction. It was last at 1.45%.
U.S. yield increases have accelerated this month as Fed officials refrain from expressing concern about the yield gains.
The greenback is likely to continue to benefit from safe- haven flows if risk appetite continues to worsen, and emerging market currencies may be among the biggest losers.
Data on Friday showed U.S. consumer spending increased by the most in seven months in January, while price pressures were muted.
U.S. jobs data for February released next Friday is the next major economic focus.
Investors are also waiting on details of the U.S. fiscal stimulus bill, which is expected to be passed in the coming weeks.
The Democratic-controlled House of Representatives on Friday was poised to push through President Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion coronavirus aid package, although it looked unlikely to be able to use the bill to raise the minimum wage nationwide.
The euro dipped 0.79% to $1.2078 after touching a seven-week high of $1.2244 on Thursday.
Bitcoin fell 0.32% to $46,946. Ethereum dropped 0.7% to $1,468.
Reference: CNBC
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