By Lisa Twaronite
TOKYO (Reuters) – The dollar slumped against rivals on Friday on the back of weak factory inflation data, while the euro enjoyed solid support after the European Central Bank hinted that it could be gearing up to trim its massive monetary stimulus.
The dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of six major rival currencies, edged down 0.1 percent to 91.798 (DXY). A move below the Jan. 2 low of 91.751 would put it at its weakest since Sept. 20.
The index was on track to shed 0.3 percent for the week, pressured by data on Thursday that showed U.S. producer prices fell for the first time in nearly 1-1/2 years in December, which could temper expectations that inflation will accelerate in 2018.
Against the yen, the dollar gave up 0.1 percent to 111.14 <jpy=>after plumbing a six-week low of 111.05 yen on Thursday.</jpy=>
It was down a steep 1.7 percent for the week in which the Japanese currency soared as a routine operational reduction in bond purchases by the Bank of Japan triggered speculation that the central bank would unwind its massive stimulus.
“Yen short positions had been building, and investors seem to be looking for opportunities to trim them,” said Yutaka Miura, a senior technical analyst at Mizuho Securities.
The euro was up 0.3 percent at $1.2062 <eur=>, approaching its nearly four-month high of $1.2089 set last week. It was up 0.3 percent for the week.</eur=>
The single currency rallied on Thursday, after ECB policymakers said in minutes of the bank’s December meeting that they could revisit their communication stance in early 2018, boosting expectations that they are preparing to reduce their vast monetary stimulus program.
Investors took the relatively hawkish statement as a further signal that the ECB will wind down its 2.55 trillion euro ($3.07 trillion) bond purchase scheme this year if Europe’s economy continues to hum along.
Bitcoin (BTC=BTSP) was down 2.6 percent at $12,903.33 on the Luxembourg-based Bitstamp exchange. It skidded over 11 percent in the previous session after the government of South Korea, a crucial source of global demand for cryptocurrency, said it is considering a plan to ban cryptocurrency trading.