Dollar rises from seven-month low

Singapore: The US dollar on Thursday lifted from a seven-month low against the yen, as US-Japan trade talks avoided the issue of foreign exchange, while it made small gains on other currencies ahead of the long Easter break.

The almost 8% gain for the Swiss franc since 2 April 2025 is the largest among G10 currencies and at 0.8167 per dollar it is close to testing resistance at a decade-high of 0.81.

The euro and yen are not far behind with gains of near 5% on the dollar in little more than two weeks, leaving both overdue for a bit of a pullback.

The euro eased slightly to $1.1362 in the Asia morning, though it remains within sight of a fourth straight weekly rise, even with the European Central Bank expected to deliver a 25-basis-point rate cut later today.

The dollar touched a seven-month low of 141.62 yen early in Asia trade before bouncing back to 142.61.

The yen had gained into the meetings in anticipation the countries could agree to strengthen the yen against the dollar.

The dollar index nudged up to 99.6 to trade more or less steady for the week.

The kiwi was above 50-day and 200-day moving averages at $0.5912 today. The Aussie was 0.4% weaker at $0.6343, with a rebound in employment data not really ruffling market expectations for a rate cut in May.

Sterling took a breather at $1.3216, capped by a softer-than-expected inflation reading on Wednesday.