Investing.com - The dollar was little changed near two-week highs against other major currencies on Friday, as the previous session’s upbeat U.S. data and the Federal Reserve’s decision to hike rates continued to support.
EUR/USD was steady at 1.1150, just off the previous session’s two-week trough of 1.1130.
The greenback strengthened broadly after the release on Thursday of encouraging data on U.S. initial jobless claims, as well as on manufacturing activity in the Philadelphia and New York areas.
The data came a day after the Fed raised interest rates from 1.00% to 1.25%, in a widely expected move.
However, disappointing U.S. inflation data released the same day raised questions about whether the central bank will be able to hike rates again later this year.
GBP/USD edged up 0.08% to trade ar 1.2766, still supported by the fact that three members of the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee surprised markets by voting in favor of a rate hike on Thursday.
But the BoE still chose to keep interest rates unchanged at a record low and maintain the level of its asset purchase program for the time being.
Meanwhile, USD/JPY rose 0.19% to 111.13 after the Bank of Japan kept monetary policy unchanged, in a widely expected move, pledging to keep asset purchases around the current target of ¥80 trillion.
"Private consumption has increased resilience against a background of steady improvement in the employment and income situation," the BOJ said in a statement.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was steady at 97.44, close to Thursday’s two-week high of 97.56.