On Friday, the US dollar struggled near its lowest point in four months, influenced by increasing expectations of upcoming interest rate cuts in the United States next year. Meanwhile, the euro and pound gained support as their respective central banks reiterated the necessity of maintaining higher interest rates for an extended period.

Gold prices were set for a weekly surge, driven by a weakened US dollar and reduced Treasury yields. Spot gold, experiencing a 0.3% uptick, has seen a 1.9% increase throughout the week.

Asia Pacific
Anticipations of the Bank of Japan (BOJ) abandoning its ultra-loose monetary policy have diminished, with the central bank likely to conclude the year as one of the world's most dovish. Market attention will focus on any indications Governor Kazuo Ueda may provide during his post-meeting briefing regarding the timing of an exit from negative interest rates.
The Japanese yen softened by 0.20% to 142.16 per dollar during Asian hours, following a 0.7% surge and reaching a four-and-a-half month high on Thursday before the Bank of Japan's upcoming meeting. The Asian currency has risen by 2% this week, marking its most significant weekly gain against the dollar since July.

The Australian dollar edged up by 0.06%, while the New Zealand dollar slightly decreased by 0.03%.

Europe
On Thursday, the European Central Bank and the Bank of England countered speculations of imminent interest rate cuts, reaffirming their commitment to combatting inflation. This stance contributed to the strengthening of the euro and pound.
The euro hovered around $1.0983, just below the two-week high of $1.1009 reached on Thursday. The single currency has recorded a 2% increase this week, marking its most substantial rise in four weeks.

America
In a week marked by significant central bank actions, traders gained more clarity on the likely timing of interest rate cuts after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell indicated on Wednesday that the tightening of monetary policy is likely complete, with discussions of cuts now on the horizon. Consequently, the US dollar depreciated broadly against its counterparts, with the dollar index at 102.05, not far from the four-month low of 101.76 reached on Thursday. The index is down 1.9%, heading for its most significant weekly decline since July.