Investing.com - The dollar remained moderately lower against the other major currencies on Friday, as markets digested the Federal Reserve's decision to raise interest rates for the first time in nearly a decade.
EUR/USD was steady at 1.0832.
The dollar remained supported after the Fed raised interest rates by a quarter of a percentage point to between 0.25% and 0.50% at the conclusion of its two-day policy meeting on Wednesday. It was the first rate hike in the U.S. since 2006.
Commenting on the decision, Fed Chair Janet Yellen said that further rate hikes would be gradual and data dependent.
Adding to optimism over the strength of the U.S. economy, the Department of Labor said on Thursday that the number of individuals filing for initial jobless benefits in the week ending December 11 decreased by 11,000 to 271,000 from the previous week’s total of 282,000.
Analysts expected jobless claims to fall by 7,000 to 275,000 last week.
USD/JPY tumbled 0.90% to 121.46.
The yen strengthened after the Bank of Japan decided to continue expanding the monetary base at an annual pace an annual pace of ¥80 trillion.
However, the BoJ surprised markets by announcing plans to increase purchases of exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and lengthening the maturity of bonds it purchases to encourage investment in the economy.
Elsewhere, the dollar was steady against the pound, with GBP/USD at 1.4908 and was lower against the Swiss franc, with USD/CHF slipping 0.17% to 0.9945.
The Australian dollar was steady, with AUD/USD at 0.7130, while NZD/USD edged up 0.15% to 0.6709.
Meanwhile, USD/CAD was little changed at 1.3939, just below the previous session's more than 11-year peak of 1.3986.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was down 0.25% at 98.96, off Thursday's two-week high of 99.35.