United States Dollar Index sits near March 2025 highs, above 102.00 ahead of US NFP
- DXY retains a bullish tone for the fifth straight day despite receding October Fed hike bets.
- Oil-driven inflation fears limit corrective pullback in US bond yields and support the USD.
- Geopolitical risks further underpin the buck as traders now look to the key US NFP report.
The US Dollar Index (DXY), which tracks the Greenback against a basket of currencies, attracts buyers for the fifth straight day and climbs back above the 102.00 mark during the Asian session on Friday. The Index remains close to its highest level since April 2025, touched the previous day, and seems poised to register strong gains for the third week in a row as traders now look to the closely watched US monthly employment details.
The popularly known US Nonfarm Payrolls (NFP) report is expected to show that the economy added only 90K jobs in September, which would mark a notable slowdown compared to the previous month's reading of 162K. Meanwhile, the Unemployment Rate is seen holding steady at 4.1%. Furthermore, the annual wage inflation, as measured by the change in the Average Hourly Earnings, will be looked upon for more cues about the Federal Reserve's (Fed) future policy path amid receding October rate hike bets and will provide some meaningful impetus to the DXY.
Heading into the key data risk, the Institute of Supply Management (ISM) reported on Thursday that economic activity in the manufacturing sector expanded in September for the ninth consecutive month. Additional details of the survey revealed that raw-material prices increased for a 24th consecutive month. This comes on top of oil-driven inflation risks, which limit the overnight pullback in US bond yields from multi-year highs. Apart from this, uncertainties stemming from the US-Iran standoff continue to act as a tailwind for the safe-haven USD and favor bulls.
In the latest developments surrounding the Middle East crisis, the Wall Street Journal reported that the Pentagon may soon send a third aircraft-carrier strike group and 10,000 sailors and Marines to the Persian Gulf. This comes after US President Donald Trump said increased military strikes against Iran were “possible” after the November midterm elections. Separately, Iran’s Persian Gulf Strait Authority (PGSA) said several tankers were attacked in the Strait of Hormuz in recent days. This keeps geopolitical risks premium in play and validates the positive outlook for the DXY.
DXY daily chart
Technical Analysis
The DXY holds well above the 200-day Simple Moving Average (SMA) and the overnight breakout through the 101.70-101.70 horizontal barrier reinforces a constructive near-term bias. The said resistance breakpoint now seems to protect the immediate downside and limit any corrective pullback. On the top side, bulls might now look to test the next relevant hurdle near the 102.65-102.70 area before aiming to conquer the 103.00 mark.
(The technical analysis of this story was written with the help of an AI tool. Know more.)
US Dollar Price This week
The table below shows the percentage change of US Dollar (USD) against listed major currencies this week. US Dollar was the strongest against the Australian Dollar.
| USD | EUR | GBP | JPY | CAD | AUD | NZD | CHF | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| USD | 1.28% | 0.37% | 0.49% | 0.64% | 1.38% | 1.22% | 0.46% | |
| EUR | -1.28% | -0.96% | -0.73% | -0.65% | 0.09% | -0.07% | -0.81% | |
| GBP | -0.37% | 0.96% | 0.02% | 0.29% | 1.02% | 0.86% | 0.11% | |
| JPY | -0.49% | 0.73% | -0.02% | 0.06% | 0.82% | 0.64% | -0.12% | |
| CAD | -0.64% | 0.65% | -0.29% | -0.06% | 0.77% | 0.55% | -0.16% | |
| AUD | -1.38% | -0.09% | -1.02% | -0.82% | -0.77% | -0.17% | -0.91% | |
| NZD | -1.22% | 0.07% | -0.86% | -0.64% | -0.55% | 0.17% | -0.74% | |
| CHF | -0.46% | 0.81% | -0.11% | 0.12% | 0.16% | 0.91% | 0.74% |
The heat map shows percentage changes of major currencies against each other. The base currency is picked from the left column, while the quote currency is picked from the top row. For example, if you pick the US Dollar from the left column and move along the horizontal line to the Japanese Yen, the percentage change displayed in the box will represent USD (base)/JPY (quote).
Author
Haresh Menghani
FXStreet
Haresh Menghani is a detail-oriented professional with 10+ years of extensive experience in analysing the global financial markets.
