Investing.com - The dollar was little changed against the other major currencies on Friday, as the European Central Bank’s latest policy decision continued to support demand for the greenback, while investors grew more cautious ahead of the Federal Reserve’s meeting next week.
EUR/USD edged up 0.08% to 1.0625, recovering from sharp losses posted on Thursday after the ECB said at its monthly policy meeting that it would extend its asset purchase program for an additional nine months.
Beyond the program’s scheduled end in March 2017, the central bank said net asset purchases are intended to continue at a monthly pace of €60 billion until the end of December 2017, or beyond, if necessary.
In addition, the ECB left its benchmark interest rate unchanged at a record-low of zero, in line with forecasts.
Meanwhile, the dollar also found support after the U.S. Labor Department said initial jobless claims fell by 10,000 to 258,000 in the week ending December 2, in line with expectations.
Sentiment on the greenback became more fragile however, ahead of the Fed’s policy meeting next week, amid sustained expectations for a rate hike.
GBP/USD held steady at 1.2583.
USD/JPY gained 0.37% to trade at 114.44.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was steady at 101.12, just off a four-day high of 101.35 hit overnight.