The dollar index posted a weekly decline of almost 4.5% around 8:30 p.m.
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The dollar was set to complete its largest weekly decline on Friday since 1987 after a week in which the federal government and the Federal Reserve tried to help the US economy, which was hit hard by the coronavirus.
The dollar index, which measures the value of the greenback against a basket of other currencies, posted a weekly decline of almost 4.5% around 19:30 GMT.
It is necessary to go back to August 1987 to find a drop of a greater magnitude.
Against the euro, the US currency fell 0.86% to 1.1127 dollars on Friday.
According to Joe Manimbo of Western Union, “Demand for the dollar has dried up after the bumpy week on Wall Street and the Fed boss’ promises to pour in quick cash to support a completely shutdown economy.”
US Central Bank President Jerome Powell said on Thursday that the institution would continue to lend money “aggressively” to combat the economic impact of the Covid-19 epidemic.
Powell, whose bank has already announced that it injects several trillion dollars into the world’s largest economy, also said that the Fed’s “ammunition” was “not going to run out” when this interview on the NBC Today Show, one of the most popular morning shows in the United States.
Elsewhere, “the data on unemployment benefit claims in the United States was a real shock, and perhaps one of the reasons why Fed President Jerome Powell addressed the nation in a TV interview yesterday, “added Antje Praefcke, analyst for Commerzbank.
The number of new unemployed has exploded, with more than three million new claims for unemployment benefits last week, a level never seen in the country.
“In addition, the United States has the highest level of infection in the world today,” which puts the dollar “under pressure,” said Praefcke.
The United States is since Thursday the country with the highest number of officially declared coronavirus cases. They have more than 97,000 cases and 1,475 deaths.
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