On the other hand, European stocks opened lower, and are heading towards recording their worst week in two months, after a sharp decline in Wall Street.
The US currency remained high, amid expectations that the “US Federal Reserve” will tighten monetary policy at a faster pace than its peers, to stop hyperinflation.
Analysts said that the highly anticipated US jobs report, due later today, may strengthen the case for a strong tightening.
Economists expect 391,000 jobs to be added in the United States last month, according to a Archyde.com poll.
The dollar index, which measures the currency’s performance against a basket of six major competing currencies, rose 0.5 percent in early European trading hours, to hit a 20-year high at 104.07 points.
But it later lost ground in choppy trading, and settled in the latest trading at 103.55. It was clear that the index would achieve gains for the fifth week in a row, with an increase of 0.3 percent during the week.
The euro lost as much as 0.5 percent against the dollar, in early European trading hours, before reversing its course, and was up 0.2 percent in the latest trading at 1.05555 dollars.
Sterling was largely stable, having earlier fallen below $1.23 for the first time in nearly two years, a day after the Bank of England sent a dire warning that Britain risked a double whammy of recession, with inflation exceeding ten percent.
The Bank of England joined the US Federal Reserve, raising interest rates by a quarter of a percentage point to 1 percent.
The yen fell slightly against the dollar, falling 0.2 percent to 130.46 yen to the dollar.
As for cryptocurrencies, Bitcoin is down a bit, trading at just over $36,000.