The
dollar was headed for its seventh consecutive weekly gain on the yen on Friday and its best one-week rise on China's yuan in more than two years as higher US yields hoist the greenback.
China is easing monetary policy and Japan is pinning its government bond yields near zero, while overnight Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said a 50 basis-point rate hike was on the table at the next meeting in two weeks.
The remark, though more or less in line with market expectations, sent five-year US yields above 3 percent for the first time since 2018 and unwound a bounce in the euro.
The
euro last bought $1.08 and is not far above a two-year low, even though markets are starting to price in higher rates with German two-year yields hitting an eight-year high overnight.
The
yen is down 1.6 percent for the week and last traded at 128.44 to the dollar, just above Wednesday's 20-year low of 129.43. The US dollar index held above 100 at 100.61. The
yuan has tumbled through its 200-day moving average this week and made a fresh seven-month low of 6.48 in offshore trade early in the session.
"The (swaps) market has now priced in 146 basis points of tightening for the next three (Fed) policy meetings," said Commonwealth Bank of Australia analyst Carol Kong. "The dollar may receive further support from safe-haven demand today if the April PMIs generate market concerns about the global growth outlook," she added, referring to purchasing manager’s index figures due in Europe and the United States.
Growth worries have capped gains in oil prices lately and concern about the economic damage from lockdowns in China was a drag on commodity currencies overnight.
The Australian dollar fell 1 percent on Thursday and was hovering around its 50-day moving average at $0.73 in morning trade. The New Zealand dollar had also dropped 1 percent overnight and inches lower to $0.67 on Friday.
Japan's Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki said on Friday that recent drops in the yen were "sharp," and his remark seemed to cap yen losses even though he added he didn't voice concern about it in a meeting with US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen.
Japan's core consumer prices rose at the fastest pace in more than two years in March, raising a risk that policymakers might try and strengthen the currency in order to relieve households squeezed by higher energy and imported food costs.
