By Jessica DiNapoli and Tom Wilson
NEW YORK (Reuters) -The dollar was roughly flat against major currencies on Friday, but still near four-month peaks, on continued optimism about the U.S. economy, and came close to surpassing a 10-month high against the Japanese yen.
Against a basket of six major currencies, the greenback stood at 92.7200, on track to close out the week with a gain of about 0.7%. It was shrugging off data showing that consumer spending recently fell.
The dollar-yen also rose as high as 109.80, roughly the highest since June. Late on Friday, it was at 109.6400.
“The dollar has gotten a second wind,” said Minh Trang, senior foreign exchange trader at Silicon Valley Bank, adding that the upward trend in the greenback “will come in spurts as bull markets do.”
Yields on U.S. Treasuries rose but held below one-year highs reached last week. [nL1N2LO27M]
U.S. jobless claims fell to a one-year low last week and President Joe Biden said he would double his vaccination plan after reaching his previous goal of 100 million shots 42 days ahead of schedule, both of which support optimism about the dollar.
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 boost 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.
Elsewhere, bitcoin gained more than 4%, helping recover some of its pullback from a record high of almost $62,000 touched earlier this month. It was last up 4.50% at $53,654.
Currency bid prices at 3:40PM (1940 GMT)
Description RIC Last U.S. Close Pct Change YTD Pct High Bid Low Bid
Previous Change
Session
Dollar index 92.7090 92.8070 -0.09% 3.032% +92.8740 +92.6440
Euro/Dollar $1.1796 $1.1764 +0.26% -3.47% +$1.1807 +$1.1763
Dollar/Yen 109.6300 109.1800 +0.42% +6.11% +109.8450 +109.1300
Euro/Yen 129.31 128.43 +0.69% +1.88% +129.4500 +128.4500
Dollar/Swiss 0.9383 0.9401 -0.18% +6.06% +0.9418 +0.9384
Sterling/Dollar $1.3783 $1.3733 +0.37% +0.89% +$1.3812 +$1.3730
Dollar/Canadian 1.2587 1.2609 -0.17% -1.15% +1.2609 +1.2561
Aussie/Dollar $0.7628 $0.7581 +0.63% -0.83% +$0.7637 +$0.7579
Euro/Swiss 1.1068 1.1057 +0.10% +2.42% +1.1094 +1.1058
Euro/Sterling 0.8557 0.8563 -0.07% -4.25% +0.8572 +0.8536
NZ $0.6991 $0.6954 +0.56% -2.62% +$0.7002 +$0.6951
Dollar/Dollar
Dollar/Norway 8.5750 8.6610 -0.77% +0.09% +8.6430 +8.5795
Euro/Norway 10.1158 10.1740 -0.57% -3.36% +10.1900 +10.1121
Dollar/Sweden 8.6424 8.6548 +0.15% +5.44% +8.6634 +8.6316
Euro/Sweden 10.1958 10.1805 +0.15% +1.18% +10.2063 +10.1724
(Reporting by Jessica DiNapoli and Tom Wilson, additional reporting by Stanley White in Tokyo; Editing by Marguerita Choy and Jonathan Oatis)
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