Key facts
- The dollar index, which measures the greenback against six peers, was roughly flat at 101.55.
- The Swiss franc firmed 0.2% against the US dollar as investors sought haven currencies.
- The euro was flat at $1.1222 but was poised for a 0.5% weekly rise, ending two weeks of losses.
- Weekly initial jobless claims fell by 6,000 to a seasonally adjusted 189,000, below the 196,000 estimate in a Reuters poll.
- OCBC analysts said falling US yields are blunting the dollar's safe-haven appeal and leaving the yen as the standout hedge.
- MUFG analysts said they recommend buying any meaningful dip in Treasuries on a stronger-than-expected payrolls number.
The dollar held steady against major currencies on Friday, November 6, 2026, after a selloff in US equities drove investors toward haven assets such as the yen and pushed Treasury yields lower ahead of a government payrolls report, Reuters reported.
The retreat from risk followed a Democratic sweep in Congress that hit US stocks on Thursday, with the Nasdaq recording its deepest one-day drop since April 2025. Fears of tighter scrutiny of the artificial intelligence industry, particularly around data center construction, have roiled global markets, the report said.
The yen strengthened 0.2% to a one-week high of 157.40 per US dollar before reversing some of that gain, while the Swiss franc firmed 0.2% against the US currency. The dollar index was roughly flat at 101.55. The euro was flat at $1.1222 but was poised for a 0.5% rise for the week, ending two weeks of losses. Sterling was last up 0.1% at $1.3457 after the Bank of England raised its policy interest rate as widely expected.
The flight to safety drove the 10-year Treasury yield down overnight; it was last trading at 4.84% in the Asian morning, near its lowest level since September 10. The two-year yield fell about 10 basis points overnight to 4.47%. Fed funds futures scaled back the probability of a 25-basis-point rate hike in December to around 70% from more than 80% on Wednesday, traders said.
"The AI selloff is creating competing forces for the dollar," OCBC analysts said. "Falling US yields are blunting the dollar's safe-haven appeal, leaving the yen as the standout hedge against more US-centric volatility, while flows from Japan's Government Pension Investment Fund could provide another tailwind for the yen."
Data on Thursday offered an upbeat prelude to the payrolls report, with weekly initial jobless claims falling by 6,000 to a seasonally adjusted 189,000, matching a 57-year low in July and below the 196,000 estimate in a Reuters poll of economists. "Recent data suggests improvement in the labour market, and we expect that to continue with this report," MUFG analysts said. "Treasuries have just had a sizeable decline in rates heading into Friday's release. While we could see some of that move reverse, as long as we remain in a downward channel in rates, we recommend buying any meaningful dip on a stronger-than-expected number."