By Amanda Cooper and Tom Westbrook
LONDON/SINGAPORE (Reuters) – The U.S. dollar was set for a second week of broad gains on Friday, with even a rate hike in Japan unable to halt its march, and a surprise cut in Switzerland highlighting the gap between the Federal Reserve and global peers in interest rate settings.
This week has marked a shift in the direction of global monetary policy, after a number of major central banks either made changes to their interest rates, or signalled that they intended to do so before too long.
The dollar was on course for its second largest weekly rise against a basket of currencies, while rate-sensitive assets such as gold and stocks hit record highs.
“Each central bank has had an element of surprise this week and that’s been reflected in the market, which is why we’ve seen such big moves – record highs in U.S. equities, on the DAX and big drops in sterling/dollar and dollar/yen going towards multi-decade highs,” City Index strategist Fiona Cincotta said.
Expectations for policy easing in China too have piled pressure on its currency, for example, and it dropped sharply in the onshore session, spooking equity investors and prompting state banks to step in. [CNY/][MKTS/GLOB]
It was last at 7.2303 per dollar
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