Dollar Ends Week Higher Against All Majors as Yen Breaks 160; NY Fed Data Show Small U.S. Intervention Role

The U.S. dollar finished the week ended Nov. 13, 2026, higher against every other major currency as traders added to bets that the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates again in December, while the Japanese yen weakened past 160 per dollar for the first time since early September.

The ICE U.S. Dollar Index rose 0.25% on Friday to 103.423 at the New York close and gained 1.10% for the week, trading between 101.488 and 103.425, according to a market data report. The Bloomberg Dollar Index rose 0.12% to 1,235.91 on Friday and 0.68% for the week. Reuters said on Friday that the dollar was at a 19-month high.

Fed hike bets drive the move

Fed Governor Christopher Waller opened the door to a half-point rate hike early Tuesday, a hotter-than-expected October consumer price report followed hours later, and a series of Fed speakers kept pushing in the same direction through Friday's producer price data, according to a weekly recap by Babypips. The dollar went from one of the weakest major currencies on Monday to the strongest for the week, ahead of all seven counterparts tracked by the site.

The October producer price index, released on Friday, rose 0.3% from September, below the 0.4% forecast, but was up 6.5% from a year earlier. Futures pricing cited by Kitco News on Friday showed an 89% probability of a quarter-point Fed increase at the Dec. 8-9 meeting and an 11% probability of a half-point move.

The dollar's largest gain for the week came against the Swiss franc and its smallest against the New Zealand dollar, Babypips said. The franc, backed by a 0% Swiss National Bank policy rate, lost ground against all seven other majors, which Babypips said likely showed that interest-rate differentials mattered more to traders than demand for traditional havens. The Australian dollar ran second from the bottom, weighed by weak local surveys and risk aversion after Nvidia's chief executive resigned on Thursday.

Closing levels

After the New York close, the euro traded at $1.10218, down 0.29% on the day and 1.75% over five days, according to data compiled by ForexR. Sterling stood at $1.32125, also down 1.75% over the period, and the Australian dollar fell 2.28% to $0.67702. The dollar rose 1.29% against the yen to 159.676 and 1.8% against the Canadian dollar to C$1.42698.

The pound barely reacted to data on Thursday showing the U.K. economy grew 0.7% in the third quarter, in line with forecasts. Babypips said sterling led the majors for about an hour after the release before slipping back to the middle of the pack.

Yen tests 160 as Tokyo warns again

The yen weakened past 160 per dollar on Thursday for the first time since early September, prompting renewed warnings from Japanese Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama that Tokyo stood ready to act, Reuters reported. Top currency diplomat Atsushi Mimura said on Thursday it was "too early to forget" this summer's intervention. The dollar peaked at 160.30 yen on Thursday, and analysts quoted by Reuters said a break above its early-September high of 160.39 could open the way toward 164.

Japan spent 15.4 trillion yen, or about $96.5 billion, to support its currency after it sank to a four-decade low of 163.99 per dollar in late July. A Federal Reserve Bank of New York report released on Thursday showed the U.S. contribution to that joint action amounted to about $497 million of euro sales to buy yen, far below the roughly $10 billion Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent had hinted at, Reuters said.

"There have been several cases of coordinated intervention, but always the US didn't spend so much money," said Tohru Sasaki, chief strategist at Fukuoka Financial Group and a former Bank of Japan official. Akira Moroga, chief market strategist at Aozora Bank, said the 160 level remains "a closely watched line" and that Japan was likely to intervene on its own even if the United States does not.

Markets increasingly expect the Bank of Japan to raise rates next month, according to Reuters, as policymakers have sounded more alarmed about inflation and the import costs caused by the weak yen. "All these comments coming out of the Fed are all indicating higher rates, and I don't think the BOJ is willing to keep up," said Bart Wakabayashi, branch manager at State Street in Tokyo.

U.S. data next week include October retail sales on Tuesday and the minutes of the Fed's October meeting on Wednesday.