2024.03.2220:59:00UTC+00Dollar Gains Against Major Counterparts

The U.S. dollar gained in strength on Friday thanks to recent strong economic data, and on bets several other central banks will likely cut interest rates before the Federal Reserve.

The Fed maintained its forecast for three interest rate cuts this year, but the timing of the first rate cut remains undetermined.

The chances of a quarter point rate cut in June have rebounded to 62%, according to CME Group's FedWatch Tool, but there is still a 28.8% chance the Fed will leave rates unchanged at the meeting.

The dollar index, which climbed to 104.50, gaining more than 1%, was last seen at 104.41.

Against the Euro, the dollar firmed to 1.0810 from 1.0862, and against Pound Sterling, it strengthened to 1.2599 from 1.2656.

The dollar weakened against the Japanese currency to 151.40 yen. The Aussie was weak against the U.S. dollar with the AUD/USD dropping to 0.6514 from 0.6571.

The dollar eased a bit against Swiss franc to CHF 0.8968 from CHF 0.8974. The Loonie weakened to C$ 1.3606 against the U.S. dollar.