Dollar is near its lowest level in 7 months

The US dollar hovered near seven-month lows on Friday as fears of an economic slowdown dampened risk appetite, while the yen weakened even as speculation mounted that the Bank of Japan will eventually abandon its ultra-loose monetary policy.

The dollar index, which measures the performance of the greenback against six major currencies, rose 0.098 percent to 102.12, not far from a seven-month low of 101.51 it touched on Wednesday.

The index has fallen 1.3% this year after declining 7.7% in the last three months of 2022 as investors bet the Federal Reserve will slow the pace of interest rate hikes.

The Japanese yen fell 0.64 percent against the dollar, to 129.26. Expectations that the Bank of Japan will soon end its policy of controlling bond yields has pushed the yen up 14 percent in the past three months.

The euro stabilized, while the pound sterling recorded in the latest trading at $ 1.2372, down 0.14 percent during the day.

The Australian dollar rose 0.17 percent against the US currency, to $ 0.692. The New Zealand dollar rose 0.25% to $0.641.