The euro firmed on Friday after the European Central Bank expanded its stimulus to shore up the economy from recession.
The euro s gains lifted risk appetite for Asian currencies and pushed the dollar index to an almost three-month low. It last stood at 96.808.
The ECB raised its emergency bond purchase scheme to 1.35 trillion euros and extended it until 2021. The 600-billion-euro addition to the stimulus was bigger than what investors expected.
The euro traded at $1.1338 on its third straight week of gains. It rose to a 13-month high of 123.620 against the Japanese yen and hit a five-month high of 1.0830 on the Swiss franc.
The euro was also lifted by Germany s decision to support the EU recovery fund, breaking its long-held tradition of resisting fiscal integration in the bloc.
The dollar stood at 109.11 on the yen as U.S. jobless claims fell below 2 million last week. The unemployment rate is expected to hit 19.8%.
The Australian dollar stood at $0.6947, while the Hong Kong dollar rose to $7.7500. The gains came despite the rising tensions in the city due to Beijing s national security law.
https://www.umarkets.com/en/news/euro-firm-dollar-weak-as-ecb-expands-stimulus