The dollar bucked its downward trend and pulled away from a five-month low against rival currencies on Friday, as markets absorbed the Federal Reserve’s decision to reduce the frequency of interest rate hikes this year.
EUR/USD shed 0.43% to trade slightly lower at 1.1266.
The U.S. currency recovered from broad losses seen earlier this week after the Federal Reserve’s two-day meeting where it left its monetary policy unchanged.
The dollar was lifted after the U.S. Department of Labor reported that jobless claims rose this week but not has high as previously expected.
Also helping the dollar recover was the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia when it reported that its manufacturing index rose to 12.4 this month from last month’s reading of -2.8.
USD/JPY was steady at 111.41.
Against the pound and the Swiss franc, the greenback was higher with GBP/USD dipping 0.26% at 1.4442, while the USD/CHF gained 0.25% to trade at 0.9701.
The sterling remained within range of a one-month high against its American rival after the Bank of England announced it was holding the benchmark interest rate at 0.50%, maintaining the same rate since March 2009.
Also on Friday, the Australian and New Zealand dollars were lower against their U.S. rival, with AUD/USD falling 0.29% at 0.7625. NZD/USD also shed 0.73% to trade lower 0.6798.
USD/CAD tacked on 0.15% to trade at 1.2997, rebounding from Thursday’s five-month trough of 1.2941.
The U.S. dollar index was up 0.34% on Friday, trading at 95.10.