Title: Dollar Up While Euro Still Feels Effect of Ukraine Conflict

Mar 10, 2022 10:53PM ET

By: AnalysisWatch

The dollar gained in Asia on Friday morning, reaching a fresh five-year high versus the yen after a US inflation report showed the largest annual increase in 40 years. The euro had trouble holding its ground as a surprisingly hawkish turn by the European Central Bank was offset by growth concerns over Russia's incursion into Ukraine.

The US dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of other currencies, rose 0.02% to 98.520 at 10:43 PM ET.

The USD/JPY pair rose 0.29% to 116.47, with the dollar gaining 1.3% against the yen this week.

The AUD/USD pair fell 0.23% to 0.7340, and the NZD/USD pair eased 0.15% to 0.6852.

New Zealand's Business NZ Purchasing Managers Index came in at 53.6 in February.

The USD/CNY pair rose 0.05% to 6.3248 and the GBP/USD pair rose 0.04% to 1.3089.

The US report released on Thursday showed that the consumer price index (CPI) rose 7.9% year-on-year and 0.8% month-on-month in February. Core CPI rose 0.5% month-on-month and 6.4% year-on-year.

The CPI data "basically suggests that the US Federal Reserve should raise interest rates this month, but they also suggest that it will continue with rate hikes, at least initially," Rodrigo Cantrill, currency strategist at the National Bank of Australia, told Reuters.

Both the Fed and the Bank of Japan will announce their interest rate decisions next week. While the US central bank is anticipated to increase interest rates, its Japanese peer is sticking to a more subdued stance.

Both the pound and the euro have felt the impact of the conflict in Ukraine and the resulting rise in commodity prices.

The euro last traded at $1.1010, having weakened by 0.8% on Thursday.