The U.S. dollar inched up against a basket of other currencies on Friday as trade tensions continued between the U.S. and China.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, rose 0.02% to 90.14 as of 5:07 AM ET (9:07 GMT), not far from its earlier high of 90.27.
U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to impose new tariffs on China, prompting investor worry of a trade war between the two biggest countries in the world.
On Thursday Trump said he was asking the United States Trade Representative to consider $100 billion more in tariffs as a retaliation against China.
China announced two sets of tariffs this week in a tit-for-tat against technology, steel and aluminium tariffs imposed by Trump.
The dollar fell to 89.99 after the news.
Traders were also looking ahead to the latest U.S. employment report and comments from Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell on Friday, which could help determine the direction of the dollar.
The dollar rose against the safe haven yen, with USD/JPY gaining 0.02% to trade at 107.41. In times of uncertainty, investors tend to invest in the Japanese yen, which is considered a safe asset during periods of risk aversion.
The euro was at a one-month low, with EUR/USD falling 0.05% to 1.2235. Meanwhile GBP/USD inched up 0.03% to 1.4006.
Elsewhere, the Australian dollar was flat, with AUD/USD at 0.7684, while NZD/USD slumped 0.38% to 0.7247.
In Canada, the loonie fell, with USD/CAD rising 0.24% to 1.2781.
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