Dollar Drops Near Lowest Level in 9 Months against Euro

The dollar fell against the Japanese yen on Friday, as traders bet that the Bank of Japan's monetary tightening is still imminent.

The dollar also fell, approaching its lowest level in nine months against the euro, amid expectations in the market that the European Central Bank will announce next week an interest rate hike of up to twice the interest rate of the Federal Reserve.

The dollar fell 0.43% to 129.65 yen in early transactions, after data revealed that consumer price inflation in Japan accelerated to close to a 42-year high this month, intensifying pressure on the Bank of Japan to move away from stimulus.

During the week, the dollar stabilized against the yen after fluctuating between losses and gains.

On the contrary, the euro is heading towards an increase of 0.4% since last Friday, in the third consecutive week of gains, as it rose 0.07% to 1.08975 dollars during the day.

The dollar index, which measures the US currency against six major currencies, including the euro, the yen and the pound sterling, fell 0.04% to 101.70, becoming on track to decline by 0.28% during the week, and this will be its third consecutive weekly decline.

The pound sterling is heading towards recording a third weekly rise against the dollar, rising 0.1%, but it settled today, Friday, at $1.2411.

The risk-sensitive Australian dollar rose 0.11% to $0.71225, approaching its highest level in seven months, which it reached yesterday, Thursday, at $0.71425.

During the week, the Australian dollar rose 2.17%, and is on track to achieve the highest weekly increase since the beginning of November.