The dollar nursed a week of losses on Friday, hit by nervousness on trade and mixed signals about the U.S. economy, while the British pound stood tall as bets firmed that Prime Minister Boris Johnson can win a commanding electoral victory.
The safe havens of the Japanese yen and Swiss franc were in demand as a hedge against Sino-U.S. trade talks collapsing, and as investors fretted that U.S. jobs figures due later in the day may fail to deliver an expected rebound.
The euro held on to overnight gains against the greenback to buy $1.1104, having climbed 0.8% this week. The yen has added 0.9% on the dollar this week and was steady at 108.72 yen per dollar on Friday.
Against a basket of currencies the dollar has dropped every day this week for a cumulative loss of almost 1%.
The best gains have been won by the soaring kiwi and British pound. The kiwi sat just below a four-month high touched on Thursday at $0.6541, having gained 1.8% this week as expectations for deep monetary easing have ebbed.
Sterling climbed to a 2-1/2 year high of 84.28 pence against the euro overnight - and has advanced 1.7% against the dollar this week, last trading at $1.3158.
Source : Reuters