Dollar slips as majors edge higher on Thursday

The currency market showed a mixed but dollar-soft tone on Thursday, 2026-09-03, with three of the six tracked instruments higher and three lower or flat. The main feature was a weaker dollar index alongside firmer euro and sterling crosses, while yen and franc pairs moved in the opposite direction.

What moved and by how much

EUR/USD rose 0.17% to 1.1608, EUR/GBP gained 0.11% to 0.8601 and GBP/USD added 0.07% to 1.3495. On the dollar side, the DXY fell 0.33% to 99.24, USD/CHF lost 0.41% to 0.8095 and USD/JPY declined 1.22% to 156.75.

That mix points to a session where the dollar eased against all three of the non-dollar currencies in the digest, but not by the same amount. The scale of the moves matters: the yen pair was the clear outlier on the downside, while the sterling and euro crosses changed only modestly.

The standouts at each end

USD/JPY was the weakest performer in percentage terms, making it the day’s main drag on the dollar complex. In contrast, EUR/USD was the strongest of the three higher instruments, though its gain remained small enough to look like incremental repositioning rather than a decisive trend break.

EUR/GBP also moved higher, which means the euro gained a little ground against sterling as well as against the dollar. At the other end, USD/CHF fell less sharply than USD/JPY, suggesting the dollar’s pressure was broad-based but uneven across funding and safe-haven pairs.

What a long-term investor should take from one day

For a longer-horizon investor, a single day like this is mainly a reminder that currency pairs move through relative pricing, not in isolation. A weaker dollar index can coincide with only modest changes in the euro and sterling crosses if the adjustment is concentrated in one major pair, as it was here.

The practical lesson is to watch both the index and the bilateral crosses. The DXY captures a broad dollar move, but pairs such as USD/JPY or EUR/USD can diverge materially because each reflects the balance between two currencies, with differences in volatility, liquidity and positioning shaping the day’s path.

This article is not investment advice and recommends no asset, level or direction; a single session's move is not evidence of a trend. For background see Currency, Cross Rate, Currency Pair, and for terms the finance glossary.