By Ben Eisen, MarketWatch
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- The U.S. dollar moved higher on Friday
after the top Federal Reserve official suggested the economy is
moving toward the central bank's objectives, pushing the greenback
to its biggest weekly rise against the yen since July 2013.
In a speech at Jackson Hole on Friday, Fed Chairwoman Janet
Yellen gave a nod to progress on the central bank's dual mandates
of full employment and stable inflation. She suggested the focus is
now shifting toward the remaining elements of so-called labor
market slack, which are tracked by a variety of indicators such as
wage growth.
"Dr. Yellen's recognition of the improvement in labor and
inflationary conditions, while still more dovish in tone than many
other Committee members, suggests a closer alignment to a Committee
that is clearly angling toward more near-term policy
normalization," said Rick Rieder, chief investment officer of
fundamental fixed income at BlackRock, in e-mailed comments.
The dollar climbed against its rivals after Yellen spoke. The
dollar (USDJPY) bought 103.87 Japanese yen, up from Yen103.81 late
Thursday in New York. The dollar pushed to an intraday high of
Yen104.19, but gave up much of its gains as the session wore on.
The yen rose 1.5% on the week, the biggest weekly rise since July
2013.
The greenback has been on the rise against key rivals since he
beginning of July, but has accelerated its push higher as investors
took stock of the quickening pace of growth in the U.S. relative to
other developed economies, namely Japan and the euro zone. Read:
You need to start watching the U.S. dollar.
The euro (EURUSD) fell to $1.3244 on Friday from $1.3281 on
Thursday. The British pound (GBPUSD) changed hands at $1.6576, down
from $1.6585.
The U.S. dollar index (DXY), which pits the currency against a
basket of rivals, rose to 82.312, from 82.146.
Subscribe to WSJ: http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires