Around 10 p.m., the greenback dropped 0.62% once morest the single currency, at 0.9918 euro for one dollar, or 1.0081 dollar for one euro.
The dollar retreated on Friday once morest the euro, under the effect of profit-taking at the end of a historic week, on a market somewhat reassured by new statements from members of the American central bank (Fed) as to the next rate hike.
Around 7:55 p.m. GMT, the greenback dropped 0.62% once morest the single currency, at 0.9918 euro for one dollar, or 1.0081 dollar for one euro.
Earlier, the “greenback” had once more come close to parity, at 1.0007 dollars for one euro, following rising to 0.9952 dollars for one euro on Thursday, a first for nearly 20 years.
“The dollar has just had a very big week and it was time to take some profits before the weekend,” commented Marc Chandler of broker Bannockburn Global Forex.
The ‘buck’, one of its other nicknames, was also falling once morest most other major currencies.
On Friday, the president of the Atlanta branch of the Fed, Raphael Bostic, pleaded for the institution not to raise its rates “too dramatically”.
Although he is not taking part in the vote of the Fed’s Monetary Committee, his remarks were in line with those of Governor Christopher Waller and the president of the St. Louis branch, James Bullard, who said they were in favor of a 0.75 point increase in the key rate at the next meeting, on 26 and 27 July.
While they estimated on Wednesday at less than 20% the probability of such an increase, betting instead on a percentage point, the operators gave it Friday a 69% chance of happening, which deprived the dollar of a little support.
For Marc Chandler, traders might take a break before the meeting of the Governing Council of the European Central Bank (ECB) on Thursday.
“Is the ECB going to come to the rescue of the euro?” Asked Joe Manimbo, of Western Union, regarding the institution which has signaled, for several weeks already, its intention to go up by a quarter. point its key rate, from -0.50% to -0.25%.
For Marc Chandler, the probability of an intervention to support the euro is “very very low”.