The dollar is receiving support from its gains against the euro and from the desire for a safe haven after France’s call for early elections sparked a state of political uncertainty in the country and in the euro zone bloc more broadly.
The yen deepened its losses by about half a percent to 157.87 yen to the dollar, and is heading for a modest weekly loss of about one percent.
The Bank of Japan maintained its monetary policy, keeping interest rates at very low levels and also announced its intention to reduce its huge purchases of bonds, in a slow move but means continuing to move away from quantitative easing.
In general, major currencies struggled to make progress against the slightly stronger dollar on Friday, and the British pound fell 0.08 percent to $1.2752. It is heading for weekly gains of 0.3 percent.
The Australian dollar fell 0.18 percent to $0.6625, and the New Zealand dollar fell 0.26 percent to $0.6152.
The euro saw little change at $1.0737, but it is heading to record a weekly loss of about 0.6 percent.
The single currency witnessed a turbulent week following French President Emmanuel Macron’s decision to call early elections in his country, which raised concerns among investors.
Macron called for early elections on Sunday after the loss suffered by his party at the hands of the far right in the European Parliament elections.
The euro fell against sterling to near its lowest level in 22 months and is heading towards a weekly decline of 0.9 percent.
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