The euro soared to a 6-month peak above 1.0980 on Thursday as support for the greenback following Wednesday's Federal Reserve statement faded. Forex investors grew confident following a French Presidential debate in which neither candidate delivered any fatal blows but kept French centrist. EUR/USD jumped to 1.0987 Thursday, its highest point since November 2016.
The dollar was bullish against a number of major currencies in early trade in Europe but buying eased as major European participants judged the Fed's meeting gave little reasons for further buying on rises in U.S. rates this year.
There was buying of French stocks and bonds in response to Macron's solid showing in his debate with anti-EU nationalist Marine Le Pen on Wednesday, which headed off worries of a last minute surge for the far-right candidate.
USD/JPY remained strong however, — reaching 113.05 for the first time in seven weeks — and the bloc of commodity-linked currencies headed by the Australian dollar.
The Aussie was under pressure, despite typically being a pro-growth play, at a time when risk appetite is high. The Australian dollar was weighed by sharp falls in the price of iron ore and other commodities that suggest a rise in concern about the Chinese economy.
The broader dollar index traded less than 0.1 percent on the day after hitting a two-week high of 99.462.
AUD/USD slipped 0.45 percent at 0.7367 and almost half a percentage point lower against the New Zealand dollar to 0.6839.
