US dollar steady, lifted by quarter-end buying

The U.S Dollar held Steady against the Yen on Friday, supported by quarter-end buying along with cool down from any fresh escalation in trade-related tensions between the United States and its major trading partners.

The U.S. Dollar index, which measures the Greenback’s strength against a basket of six major currencies traded at 95.27 at 09:30 GMT.

Still, trade worries look set to dominate the market with traders increasingly worried about the impact of Sino-U.S. trade disputes on China’s economy.

The Euro added 0.51 percent to the Greenback to trade at 1.1627 EURUSD to 08:30 GMT after losing more than 0.12 percent on Thursday, to end the session at 1.1567 EURUSD. Weighed down by political uncertainty in Germany.

Over in the United Kingdom, the Sterling gained 0.22 percent against the Greenback, to trade at 1.3105 GBPUSD at 08:30 GMT, rebounding from its lowest since early November on Thursday when the absence of any progress in Brexit discussions with the European Union depressed the opportunities of an interest rate hike from the Bank of England.

Regarding safe-haven assets, the U.S. Dollar advanced against its yen counterpart on Friday, supported by quarter-end buying as well as calming from any fresh escalation in trade-related tensions between the United States and its major trading partners.

The Japanese Yen, which tends to be bought on any signals of economic and political trauma because of outlooks of Japanese asset repatriation, also lost some support after U.S. President Donald Trump hinted he would take an easier approach on Chinese investments in U.S. technology companies.

The Greenback added 0.10 percent at 110.60 USDJPY at 08:30 GMT.

The Canadian Dollar reinforced against its U.S. counterpart on Thursday, boosted bets for a BoC interest rate hike next month. Probabilities of a rate increase at the July 11 announcement had risen to 0.65 percent from less than 0.50 percent before a press conference on Wednesday by Bank of Canada Governor Stephen Poloz that was more hawkish than a speech that had preceded it, data from the overnight index swaps market showed. The Greenback lost 0.67 percent to close Thursday’s session at 1.3251.

In the Energy space, The U.S. crude oil futures settled nearly 1 percent higher at $73.45 a barrel.

Over in Australia and New Zealand, The Aussie Dollar rose by 0.53 percent against the Greenback to trade at 0.7389 AUDUSD at 09:30 GMT, Meanwhile the Kiwi Dollar gained 0.1 percent to trade at 0.6767 NZDUSD.