SINGAPORE, April 29 Reuters The dollar edged off a 20year high on Friday, but was within sight of its best monthly gain in a decade, buoyed by bets on rising U.S. interest rates and worries about growth in Europe and China.
It has climbed each week in April, with this week39;s rise thanks to the Bank of Japan, which sent the yen falling through 130perdollar for the first time since 2002 on Thursday when it reinforced a commitment to its superlow yield policy.
The yen was last at 130.53 per dollar after falling as low as 131.25 on Thursday following the BOJ39;s pledge to buy endless amounts of bonds daily as needed. The yen is down almost 7 in April, its worst month since November 2016.
Thursday39;s uberdovish decision set Japan even further apart from the Federal Reserve, where markets are priced for 150 basis points bps of hikes in just three meetings, and triggered a fresh rush of funds into the dollar ahead of all else.
The U.S. dollar index , which hit a twodecade high of 103.93 in the wake of the yen39;s tumble, was last at 103.40 and up more than 5.1 through April. If sustained, that would make for its best monthly gain since May 2012.
Weakerthanexpected quarterly U.S. growth data on Thursday proved little obstacle to the dollar39;s rise, and investors hardly adjusted their nearterm interest rate bets.
The euro , meanwhile, dropped through 1.05 for the first time in five years on Thursday and was last clinging on at 1.0526. Trade was thinned in the Asia…