The U.S. dollar stabilized on Friday near a 16-week low when measured against a basket of other currencies including the euro. The currency fell by 0.1% at 104.55; just marginally higher than its lowest level since June 29 of 104.36.
With key U.S. labor market data set to be released later on Friday, Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell commented that now is the time to consider a slowdown in interest rate hikes. Now, investors are waiting to see the consequences that interest rate hikes have had on labor data.
China’s yuan, in contrast, has strengthened by 0.4% against the dollar to 7.0294 on Friday. Should the yuan continue to rise at its current pace, the currency will embark on its biggest weekly gain since the Chinese government revalued the currency in 2005.
The euro changed minimally following a 1.1% gain on Thursday and now sits at $1.0527, while the sterling went down by 0.1% to $1.2260. This comes after the sterling reached a 5-month high of $1.2311 on Thursday following a 1.7% gain.