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The U.S. dollar briefly touched its highest levels in nine months Friday as the spread of the coronavirus delta variant contributed to unease over the global economic growth outlook.
The U.S. Dollar Index
DXY,
climbed to as high as 93.73 early Friday, the highest level since Nov. 2.
The dollar’s rally was more about negative risk sentiment related to, among other things, the delta coronavirus variant and the slowdown in China, Vassili Serebriakov, FX strategist at UBS in New York told CNBC.
The greenback’s rally on Friday came as major U.S. stock indexes were on track for a losing week and U.S. Treasury yields remained lower. In the absence of any economic data releases today, investors remained focused on the delta variant’s impact on the economy, with one Federal Reserve policy maker saying he may rethink his call for a tapering of bond purchases to start in October, if the delta variant slows economy.
In an interview with Fox Business Network on Friday, Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas President Robert Kaplan said the delta variant has caused him to have an open mind about the path of monetary policy. He called the delta variant “the big imponderable” in the outlook.
“It is in all of our interest to slow the spread, and right now we’re in a negative trend,” he said.
