Dollar gains against Yen, Cryptocurrencies near highs amid ETF speculation

Shafaq News/ The dollar is on track for its best week against the yen in three months, following comments from Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell and other US central bank officials that tempered expectations of an interest rate peak.

Cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin and Ether, remained near their highest levels in months amid renewed speculation about the imminent approval of a Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF), injecting fresh momentum into digital assets.

Several Federal Reserve policymakers, led by Powell, stated on Thursday that they were uncertain if interest rates had peaked, signaling a hawkish stance that boosted the US currency.

On Friday, the dollar hovered near a one-year high of 151.355 yen and touched its highest levels in a week against the Australian and New Zealand dollars.

Tina Ting, a market analyst at CMC Markets, noted, "Powell's speech was very hawkish, and that affected sentiment."

The dollar rebounded this week after initially declining on the Federal Reserve's decision to keep interest rates unchanged. It was set to record weekly gains of about 1.3 percent against the yen, its best performance since August. Conversely, the Australian and New Zealand dollars face weekly losses of 2.3 percent and 1.75 percent against the dollar, respectively, representing their most significant decline in months.

The Australian dollar reached 0.63615 against the US currency in the latest trading, while the New Zealand dollar recorded $0.5895.

The euro stabilized at $1.06665, while the British pound rose 0.05 percent to $1.2227, with both currencies on track to incur weekly losses of about 0.6 percent and 1.2 percent, respectively.

Bitcoin, the world's largest cryptocurrency, remained near its highest levels in 18 months, trading at $36,653, and Ether, the second-largest cryptocurrency, surged to its highest levels since April at $2,136.50. The price spikes were fueled by speculation about the imminent approval of a BlackRock Bitcoin exchange-traded fund.