The dollar soared on Friday, climbing 1.5 percent against the Swiss franc, 1.25 percent versus the yen and nearly 1 percent on the euro as investors worried about Japanese rates and unwound short dollar positions.
The yen fell after Bank of Japan Governor Toshihiko Fukui indicated the central bank would not rush to raise Japan's near-zero interest rates.
Dealers scrambled to buy back dollars across the board as the weekend approached, after weeks of almost uninterrupted dollar losses.
The dollar has fallen as much as 8 percent against the yen and 7 percent against the euro since mid-April on concern US interest rates of 5 percent are close to a peak and the currency needs to weaken to help fix the huge US current account deficit.
"The dollar's rise today is partly a yen story - the market was increasingly expecting the BoJ to start raising rates as early as the third quarter, and this is looking less likely," said Tom Vosa, head of market economics at National Australia Bank.
"Also, it's a Friday and traders are looking to see if they are too short of dollars ahead of the weekend."
Fukui said the bank's board did not discuss specifics of ending zero interest rates at its two-day policy meeting and said the level of economic activity in Japan was rising but the growth rate will slow.
The dollar rose to a 10-day high of 112.11 yen, an 8-day high of 1.2222 Swiss francs and the day's high of $1.2738 per euro, and was trading close to those levels at 1133 GMT.
The dollar also derived some support on Friday from US Federal Reserve official Jeffrey Lacker, who said on Thursday the US inflation outlook may be beyond "acceptable" and containing inflation had to be a top priority for the central bank.
The Swiss franc fell back across the board, dropping 0.5 percent against the euro, as investors pared back risk aversion trades.
"Swissie has really been driven by risk aversion factors and this week that's been the flavour of the market," said Geoff Kendrick, currency strategist at Westpac.
The euro found only brief support from upbeat comments on the eurozone economy from European Central Bank Governing Council member Klaus Liebscher.
Liebscher said he saw signs of strengthening and broadening eurozone growth dynamics, but was concerned about significant upside risks to the inflation outlook.
French Finance Minister Thierry Breton said the euro was trading within acceptable ranges. Breton triggered a euro decline earlier in the week when he said everything must be done to stop the euro from rising too much against the dollar.
The yen has been rising in recent weeks partly in anticipation of the BoJ boosting rates, possibly in July, but the BoJ's monetary policy board left rates unchanged as expected and gave no hint on when rates might begin to rise.