Dollar Boosted by Yields

The U.S. Dollar Index tracked the greenback against a basket of other currencies and inched up 0.04% to 102.34 by 12:57 PM ET (4:57 AM GMT).

The USD/JPY pair inched down 0.06% to 130.04.

The AUD/USD pair edged down 0.15% to 0.7164, and the NZD/USD pair inched down 0.04% to 0.6480.

The USD/CNY pair edged up 0.19% to 6.6989, and the GBP/USD pair inched up 0.04% to 1.2487.

The dollar climbed 130.23 yen, its highest since May 11 and extending Wednesday’s 1.1% gain. It was also heading towards the 20-year peak of 131.34 hits in May.

The euro traded at $1.0654 after falling 0.81% to a 10-day low overnight.

Data Picking Up

On Wednesday, the U.S. benchmark 10-year yield hit a two-week high of 2.951%, with data showing U.S. manufacturing activity picked up in May 2022 as demand for goods remained strong. The manufacturing purchasing managers’ index (PMI) at 57, and the ISM manufacturing PMI was 56.1.

U.S. job openings also remained high, with the Institute of Supply Management (ISM) manufacturing employment index at 49.6 and the JOLTs jobs opening index at 11.4 million.

Yields have been upward as the U.S. Federal Reserve has hiked interest rates quickly to curb inflation and avoid an economic recession.

The 10-year yield was a touch softer in early Asia at 2.9145%.

Investors are also awaiting Friday’s U.S. jobs report, including non-farm payrolls. The European Central Bank will have its policy meeting in the following week. It should give more details about its plans for interest rate hikes.

In Asia-Pacific, the Australian dollar was little changed. Bitcoin was trading around the $29,800 mark in cryptocurrencies after falling overnight, unable to sustain its climb above the $30,000 mark earlier in the week.