The dollar traded near a two-week peak on Friday morning due to increased demand for safe assets due to the uncertainty surrounding China-US trade negotiations and worries about the expansion of the global economy.
US President Donald Trump said the day before that he did not plan to meet with Chinese leader Xi Jinping before March 1, the date of the expiration of the deadline during which Washington and Beijing should conclude a trade deal.
Traders also fear a possible slowdown in global financial and economic growth. The European Commission on Thursday significantly lowered its forecast for an increase in the eurozone's economy for the current year - up to 1.3% from a previous autumn estimate of 1.9%. The estimate of inflation in the region of the single European currency for 2019 was lowered to 1.4% from 1.8%. Then the Bank of England lowered its forecast for GDP growth in the UK in 2019 - to 1.2% from 1.7%.
Thus, the dollar is being helped by concerns about global economic growth, as well as external factors. Markets are waiting to understand what measures can balance global growth, and until then it's hard to believe that the US currency will be weakening.
The dollar index to the basket of major currencies added 0.1 percent to 96.59.
The Australian dollar fell 0.3 percent to $ 0.7076 after lowering GDP growth forecasts by the Reserve Bank of Australia.
The euro traded without a distinct dynamic at the level of $ 1.1335.
The yen added 0.1 percent to the dollar to 109.70. Nevertheless, since the beginning of the week, the dollar has grown by about 0.8 percent against the Japanese currency.
The pound sterling fell 0.1 percent to $ 1.2944.
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