While the dollar fell slightly, the South African rand strengthened in the first exchanges today. The U.S. Jobs Report is awaited by investors around the world to get new clues about the Federal Reserve's rate hike.

The dollar looked ready to record its best week in over a month this Friday. The rand was trading at 18.2750 against the dollar, 0.73% higher than its previous close at 06:40 GMT. After the Fed signalled it would not slow the pace of its interest rate hikes, the rand weakened on Thursday like most risk-sensitive emerging-market currencies.

The pound was on the cards as investors revised their rate projections after a change in tone from the Bank of England. After slipping 2% overnight, the pound rose slightly by 0.1% to $1,170 heading towards a weekly loss of nearly 4%. This is the biggest since the market turbulence in September. According to National Australia Bank currency strategist Rodrigo Catir, “The pound sterling is getting a dose of economic reality. What the Bank of England must surely make when it comes to taxation - difficult choices.”

With respect to the euro, after falling by nearly 0.7% overnight, it was up by 0.08% to $0.97575 while the kiwi fell by 0.06% to $0.5772, after & Worse; to have also slipped by 0.7% during the previous session. After jumping 0.8% overnight and hitting a record of around two weeks at 113.15, the US Dollar Index, which measures the greenback against a basket of currencies, strengthened to 112.90.

As for the Japanese yen, it rose marginally by 0.07% to 148.155 per dollar, while the Aussie fell by 0.02% to 0.6287, after falling by nearly 1% overnight. The Reserve Bank of Australia lowered the outlook for economic growth on Friday.