Investing.com – The dollar eased from two-week highs against a basket of major currencies but remained well supported amid a slump in the Canadian dollar and ongoing sterling weakness.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, rose 0.48% to 90.07, after hitting a session high of 90.24. The dollar was on track to post a weekly gain.
USD/CAD jumped 0.58% to $1.2745 as subpar Canadian inflation further dented investor expectations for a faster pace of Bank of Canada rate hikes after the central bank delivered a dovish monetary policy statement earlier this week.
While Canada’s 2.3% rise in consumer prices improved on February’s 2.2% rise, CIBC noted that the uptick in inflation was driven by higher minimum wages and the rise in oil prices, “neither of which are signposts of an economy at risk of overheating."
GBP/USD remained under pressure, falling 0.38% to $1.4034, as dovish comments from Bank of England governor Mark Carney scaled back investor expectations that a May rate hike was a foregone conclusion.
The dollar’s advance came as 10-year Treasury yields added to gains after jumping above a key 2.9% level Thursday on expectations for continued U.S. economic growth and inflation.
EUR/USD fell 0.45% to $1.2291 as investors cut some of their bullish bets on the single currency ahead of the European Central Bank (ECB) meeting next week. This comes as ECB president Mario Draghi said recently monetary policy stimulus was still needed despite improved confidence in Eurozone inflation.
USD/JPY rose 0.19% to Y107.55.