Early trade in New York: Dollar holds gains against major currencies

NEW YORK: The dollar hovered near its highest since November against major currencies on Friday, propelled by optimism over US coronavirus vaccines and the economy, and rose to its highest against the Japanese yen since June.

Against a basket of six major currencies, the greenback stood at 92.813, not far off a four-month high hit a day earlier and on course for a weekly gain of 0.9%. It was shrugging off data showing that consumer spending recently fell.

The dollar-yen also rose to 109.80, roughly the highest since June. Against the Swiss franc, the dollar rose to its highest since July.

Yields on US Treasuries rose but held below recent highs.

The euro managed to claw back ground from Thursday’s four-month low, though the common currency is still bruised by doubts over the slow pace of vaccinations and rising infections. In a fillip for the euro, business morale in the euro zone’s biggest economy Germany hit its highest level in almost two years in March as rising demand for manufactured goods kept factories humming through rising coronavirus infections and lockdown restrictions.

The euro has been under pressure as worries about the European Union’s slow vaccination rollout and bickering with former member Britain over vaccine exports become a dominant theme, traders said, adding that rising cases were a concern.

Elsewhere, bitcoin gained as much as 4%, helping recover some of its pullback from a record high of almost $62,000 touched earlier this month. It was last up 3.69% at $53,185.