Dollar heads for its longest streak of weekly gains in 9 years

US dollar fell today, Friday, but it is still heading towards ‎achieving the longest series of weekly gains in 9 years, ‎supported by a set of strong data on the US economy that also ‎made the prospects of the Federal Reserve (the US central ‎bank) ending the cycle of raising interest rates in doubt.‎

According to Reuters, the Chinese yuan fell in local trading to ‎its lowest level since 2007, as it was exposed to pressure from ‎capital outflow and a widening yield gap with major ‎economies.‎

The dollar index, which measures the performance of the US ‎currency against a basket of major currencies, fell 0.1% to ‎‎104.93 points, but remained close to the highest level in 6 ‎months that it recorded in the previous session at 105.15 ‎points.‎

The index is heading to expand its gains for the eighth week in ‎a row, with an increase of 0.6% so far

The euro witnessed losses for 8 consecutive weeks, but it rose ‎in the latest trading by 0.1% to 1.0709 dollars, after falling to its ‎lowest level in 3 months at 1.0686 dollars on Thursday.‎

‎”The relative divergence between the US and European ‎economies becomes a major theme again, and recently the ‎story of the dollar’s decline faded,” said Dean Sykov, chief ‎macro and foreign exchange expert at Nordea Markets.‎

Data released this week showed that the US services sector ‎unexpectedly gained momentum in August and that jobless ‎claims last week reached their lowest level since February.‎

In the eurozone, industrial production in Germany, the largest ‎economy in Europe, fell slightly more than expected in July

The pound sterling rose from its lowest level in 3 months on ‎Thursday, and reached in the latest trading 1.2496 dollars, ‎although it is still heading for a weekly loss of more than 0.7%.‎

The yuan in transactions within China reached 7.3400 against ‎the dollar at the opening today, and reached its lowest level ‎since December 2007 at 7.3510 against the dollar, and it also ‎declined in foreign transactions and fell to its lowest level in 10 ‎months at 7.3621 against the dollar.‎

The value of the Chinese currency has fallen steadily since ‎February, as the faltering economic recovery after the Covid-19 ‎pandemic and the widening revenue gap with other ‎economies, especially the United States, affected capital and ‎trade flows.‎

The yen stabilized at 147.37 against the dollar

The Australian dollar rose 0.2 percent to $ 0.6392 in the latest ‎trading, but it is heading for a weekly loss of 1 percent.‎

Likewise, the New Zealand dollar is heading to record a loss of ‎approximately 0.7 percent during the week, and it was traded ‎in the latest trading at $ 0.59.‎