The U.S. dollar fell to three-year lows against other major currencies on Friday, as fresh concerns over U.S. policies and especially the rising deficit offset optimism sparked by recent U.S. economic reports.
The greenback turned broadly lower amid sustained concerns over the deficit in the U.S., which is projected to climb near $1 trillion in 2019 following the announcement of infrastructure spending and large corporate tax cuts.
The dollar had initially strengthened after the U.S. Commerce Department reported on Wednesday that consumer prices rose more than expected in January by 0.5%, sending U.S. bond yield higher.
Data on Thursday showed that the U.S. producer price index rose in line with expectations by 0.4% last month.
Rising inflation would be a catalyst to push the Federal Reserve toward raising interest rates at a faster pace than currently expected.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was down 0.21% at 88.27 by 02:00 a.m. ET (06:00 GMT), the lowest since December 2014.
USD/JPY was down 0.31% at 105.79, the weakest level since November 2016, while USD/CHF fell 0.30% to 0.9196.
Elsewhere, the euro and the pound were higher, with EUR/USD up 0.27% at 1.2537 and with GBP/USD gaining 0.23% to 1.4128.
The Australian and New Zealand dollars were also stronger, with AUD/USD up 0.35% at 0.7972 and with NZD/USD rising 0.22% to 0.7424.
Meanwhile, USD/CAD edged down 0.16% to trade at 1.2469.
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