Dollar Logs Best Day Since June and a Weekly Gain as Yen Heads for Its Biggest Weekly Drop Since September

The U.S. dollar posted its biggest one-day gain in nearly five months on Friday, Nov. 6, 2026, and ended the week higher, after a stronger-than-expected October jobs report reinforced expectations of a Federal Reserve rate hike in December. The rally erased the losses the greenback suffered earlier in the week after the U.S. midterm elections.

A late-week reversal

The dollar index, which measures the greenback against six major currencies, rose 0.8% to 102.30 at 3:45 p.m. ET, according to Investing.com. That put it on track for its best day since June 18 and ended a two-day losing streak. Investing.com put the index’s weekly gain at 0.4%. In an earlier Reuters snapshot, the index was up 0.77% at 102.26 and up 0.3% for the week.

The dollar had weakened in the middle of the week after Democrats won control of both chambers of Congress. Reuters said the dollar was already firmer before Friday’s data on safe-haven demand, as the selloff in artificial-intelligence stocks spread worldwide.

The Labor Department said nonfarm payrolls rose by 165,000 in October, compared with the 65,000 expected by economists polled by Reuters, and the unemployment rate dipped to 4.1%. Payrolls for August and September were revised up by a combined 84,000. According to Investing.com, CME FedWatch data showed the probability of a quarter-point rate hike at the Fed’s Dec. 9 meeting rose to nearly 79% after the report from almost 73% before it. Reuters said the odds had fallen to about 67% on Thursday during the stock-market rout.

Treasury yields rose after the data. Reuters said the 10-year yield climbed 1.6 basis points to 4.85% and the 2-year yield rose 4.1 basis points to 4.52%.

Yen, euro and sterling

The Japanese yen weakened 0.47% to 158.430 per dollar in the Reuters snapshot, and Investing.com said the move ended a two-day winning streak for the currency. Reuters said the yen was down nearly 0.6% for the week, which would be its biggest weekly percentage decline since it fell more than 2% in the week ended Sept. 18. Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi unveiled a plan to use proceeds from the Bank of Japan’s sales of exchange-traded funds to fund her flagship investment projects, and BOJ Governor Kazuo Ueda said the central bank expects underlying inflation to stay around its 2% target but sees “some upside risks.”

The euro fell 0.67% to $1.11437, according to Reuters, on pace for its biggest daily drop since Oct. 1. It lost 0.1% for the week, a third straight weekly decline. Investing.com quoted the euro at $1.1137 later in the session, with a weekly loss of 0.2%.

Sterling dropped 0.71% to $1.3355, Reuters said, its biggest daily decline since Sept. 23. The pound had reached a more than seven-week high on Thursday after the Bank of England raised interest rates for the first time in more than three years. It was down nearly 0.3% for the week, its first weekly loss after three straight weekly gains.

Peso firms despite a surprise cut

The Mexican peso strengthened to 18.6174 per dollar on Friday, according to Investing.com. The gain came a day after the Bank of Mexico unexpectedly cut its key interest rate by 25 basis points to 6.25%. FXStreet reported that markets had expected the rate to stay at 6.50% and that Deputy Governors Galia Borja and Jonathan Heath voted to hold. The central bank described the move as a one-time adjustment and raised its fourth-quarter headline inflation forecast to 3.7% from 3.5%.

Fed officials and the week ahead

Comments from Fed officials on Friday supported the case for a hike, Reuters said. New York Fed President John Williams said inflation is too high and that bringing it back to 2% is essential. St. Louis Fed President Alberto Musalem said inflation remains a top concern among businesses in his district, and San Francisco Fed President Mary Daly said the Fed will likely still need to raise rates further despite the “painful” tech-stock selloff.

Eugene Epstein, head of trading and structured products at Moneycorp, told Reuters that the dollar can trade either as a safe haven or on interest-rate differentials, and that the two drivers can be at odds.

The next major test for currency markets is the October U.S. consumer price index, due at 8:30 a.m. ET on Tuesday, Nov. 10. Early FactSet estimates cited by CNBC call for a 3.9% year-over-year increase, up from 3.7% in the prior reading. The producer price index follows on Friday, Nov. 13.

Sources: Reuters via Investing.com, Nov. 6, 2026; Investing.com, Nov. 6, 2026; FXStreet, Nov. 5, 2026; CNBC, Nov. 6, 2026.