LONDON: The dollar, euro and yen found themselves in familiar territory early on Friday, having shuffled sideways in thin trade with US markets shut for the Thanksgiving Day holiday.
The euro managed to hold above $1.0600 and last stood at $1.0606. It remained within reach of a 7-1/2 month trough of $1.0565 set earlier in the week.
Against the yen, the common currency was flirting with 130.00, not far off a 7-month low of 129.77.
The prospect of more easing from the European Central Bank at next week’s policy review has been keeping the euro under pressure.
Traders suspect this trend is likely continue in another subdued session with an early close for US markets on Friday set to extend the holiday lull.
“Lacking impetus from offshore markets and as our North American cousins continue to make inroads into the 46 million turkeys they typically consume each Thanksgiving, it promises to be a slow Asia-Pacific Friday,” said Ray Attrill, global co-head of FX strategy at National Australia Bank.
Next week promises to be more exciting with the ECB policy review on Thursday to take center stage. The Reserve Bank of Australia and Bank of Canada also hold their respective policy meetings in the week ahead.
The dollar index stood at 99.853, near an 8-1/2 month peak of 100.170 scaled earlier in the week. On the week, it was up 0.3 per cent.
In contrast to the ECB, the Federal Reserve seems likely to hike US interest rates in December.
Against the yen, the greenback fetched 122.65, remaining pretty much in consolidation mode after reaching a three-month high of 123.77 last week.
