Investing.com - The dollar was hovering a two-and-a-half week highs against other major currencies on Friday, amid mouting optimism over a major U.S. tax reform plan and as investors eyed the release of key U.S. employment data due later in the day.
The greenback was boosted after the U.S. Congress on Thursday passed legislation to temporarily fund the government through December 22, beofre a Friday midnight deadline and fuelling hopes the highly-anticipated U.S. tax reform will also be passed before the end of the year.
U.S. Senate Republicans agreed to talks with the House of Representatives on a major tax reform bill on Wednesday, signaling that lawmakers could agree on a final bill ahead of a self-imposed December 22 deadline.
The U.S. dollar was also boosted after data on Thursday showed that U.S. jobless claims declined last week for third consecutive week.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was up 0.20% at 93.94 by 05:15 a.m. ET (09:15 GMT), its highest since November 21.
The euro was lower, with EUR/USD down 0.20% at 1.1749, the lowest since November 23, while GBP/USD held steady at 1.3474.
Sterling remained supported after European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said on Friday that "sufficient progress" has been made in the first phase of Brexit talks and that discussions can now move to trade.
Elsewhere, the yen and Swiss franc were lower, with USD/JPY up 0.34% at 113.47 and with USD/CHF adding 0.17% to 0.9961.
Earlier Friday, official data showed that Japan's gross domestic product expanded by 0.6% in the third quarter, beating expectations for a growth rate of 0.4%. Year-over-year, Japan's economy grew 2.5% in the last quarter, blowing past projections for 1.5%.
The Australian dollar was steady, with AUD/USD at 0.7511, while NZD/USD added 0.16% to 0.6842.
The Aussie was boosted by data on Friday showing that China's imports climbed more than expected by an annual rate of 17.7% in November, while exports increased by 12.3%. China is Australia's biggest export partner.
Another report showed that Australia's home loans fell only 0.6% in October, compared to expectations for a 1.8% decline.
Meanwhile, USD/CAD was almost unchanged at 1.2854.