The dollar index hovered near 20-year highs against the other major currencies on Friday, as selling in the markets in the face of global recession fears boosted the safe-haven currency.
and opened European stocks are down, heading for their worst week in two monthsafter 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 stem hyperinflation.
Analysts said the highly anticipated US jobs report, due later in the day, 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 performance of the currency against a basket of six major competing currencies, rose 0.5% in early European trading hours, to hit a 20-year high at 104.07 points, but later lost strength in choppy trading, and settled in the latest transactions at 103.55.
It was clear that the index would achieve gains for the fifth consecutive week, rising by 0.3% during the week.
The euro lost as much as 0.5% against the dollar in early European trading hours, before reversing course.
It was up 0.2% last trading at $1.0555.
Sterling was largely stable after earlier dropping 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 and inflation above 10%.
The Bank of England joined the US Federal Reserve and raised interest rates by a quarter of a percentage point to 1%.
The yen was slightly lower against the dollar, falling 0.2% to 130.46 yen to the dollar.
As for cryptocurrencies, Bitcoin is down quite a bit, trading at just over $36,000.