The dollar hovered near a 15-month low on Friday, heading towards its largest weekly decline since November after weak U.S. inflation data reinforced investor bets that the Federal Reserve is close to ending its interest rate hike path. Data released yesterday showed that U.S. producer prices rose barely in June, with the annual increase in producer price inflation marking the lowest level in nearly three years, following a day after data revealed that consumer prices rose slightly last month.
The dollar index, which measures the performance of the U.S. currency against a basket of major currencies, rose 0.06% to 99.827 after touching a 15-month low of 99.574 earlier in the session. The index has fallen 2.4% this week, marking its largest weekly decline in eight months.
The euro rose to a 16-month high against the dollar at $1.1243 in Asian trading before stabilizing at $1.1227. The Swedish krona declined 0.5% against the dollar to 10.2560, moving away from a two-month high against the dollar reached yesterday. Meanwhile, the Australian dollar fell 0.3% to $0.6868. The Japanese yen decreased 0.25% to 138.41 against the dollar, heading towards its best weekly performance against the dollar since January.
