By Gina Lee

Investing.com – The dollar was down on Friday morning in Asia, remaining under pressure as investors digest a surprise from the Bank of England (BOE), and the European Central Bank (ECB) adopted a more hawkish stance.

This chart tracks the greenback’s value against other currencies and fell 0.03% by 10:00 PM ET (3:26 GMT)

Both the pair climbed 0.06% up to 1.3326 while they fell 0.06% down to 113.64.

This pair declined 0.18%, to 0.7170. The pair dropped 0.21%, to 0.6783.

This pair increased by 0.04% to 6.3698.

Key central banks have adopted different policies as uncertainty about the omicron COVID-19 variant’s impact on economic recovery remains. It remains to be debated how central banks can curb inflation.

As the central bank handed down its surprise policy decision Thursday, the pound surged to $1.33755. This was the highest level since Nov. 24, when it raised interest rates by 0.25%. The COVID-19 pandemic has seen the central bank raise interest rates for the first time since its inception.

The euro remained steady at $1.13315 after reaching its peak in December (or $1.13605). In a policy decision it issued on the same day that the BOE, the outlined plans for asset tapering in the next quarter. But, the central banks also stressed flexibility in policy.

“A cautious ECB taper and a surprise BOE hike likely leaves the dollar index heavy near-term, especially given lopsided long dollar positioning into year’s end,” Westpac analysts said in a note.

Note: “But weakness probably does not extend above the low 95s for the dollar Index,” with the U.S. Federal Reserve “streets ahead” of the ECB on terms of tightening cycles and dips in the mid-95 range being a buying chance.

In its Wednesday policy decision, the central bank became more hawkish. It will speed up its asset tapering program, which is expected to be completed in March 2022. The central bank also projects three quarter-point rate rises that year.

As it issued its policy decision earlier today, Asia Pacific kept the interest rate at 0.10%. Although keeping within investor expectations, inflation still remains well below the central bank’s target.