The U.S. currency gained against a basket of peers as an employment report matched forecasts, bolstering speculation that the Federal Reserve will keep reducing its month bond-buying. The currency market’s views on central bank stimulus drove a measure of volatility to the lowest ever. The yen weakened the most in seven weeks before Bank of Japan announces its next policy decision on June 13.
“The ECB is going to have to do more to convince the market that they should be selling euros,” said Steven Englander, the New York-based global head of Group of 10 foreign-exchange strategy at Citigroup Inc. “And in some ways it looks almost as if they don’t care.”
The euro fell 0.5 percent versus the dollar on June 5, the most since March 6, and finished the week little changed at $1.3643 in New York. The yen fell 0.7 percent this week to 102.48 per dollar, the biggest loss since the five days ended April 18. Japan’s currency dropped 0.8 percent to 139.80 per euro.