Investing.com - The U.S. dollar pushed higher against other major currencies on Friday, as investors awaited the release of key U.S. employment data due later in the day, while hawkish comments by the Federal Reserve this year continued to lend support.
The greenback remained supported after the Fed, at the conclusion of its policy meeting on Wednesday, signaled its confidence about inflation and growth in the U.S.
The Fed said that inflation is likely to rise this year, boosting expectations for further interest rate hikes under incoming central bank head Jerome Powell.
Market participants were looking ahead to the U.S. nonfarm payrolls report due later Friday, for further indications on the strength of the job market.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was up 0.28% at 88.73 by 05:15 a.m. ET (09:15 GMT).
The euro and the pound were lower, with EUR/USD down 0.24% at 1.2484 and with GBP/USD sliding 0.37% to 1.4215.
Research group Markit reported on Friday that its UK construction purchasing managers index fell to 50.2 in January from 52.2 the previous month, compared to expectations for a downtick to only 52.0.
The yen and the Swiss franc were also weaker, with USD/JPY gaining 0.43% at 109.88 and with USD/CHF adding 0.24% to 0.9288.
Elsewhere, the Australian and New Zealand dollars remained lower, with AUD/USD declining 0.68% at 0.7987 and with NZD/USD retreating 0.59% to 0.7353.
Meanwhile, USD/CAD gained 0.30% to trade at 1.2303.