The US dollar rose against a majority of rivals on Friday, extending gains for the second day, on track for a weekly gain amid growing odds of the Federal Reserve to tighten monetary policy soon, and ahead of key US data releases later today.

The dollar index rose 0.15% to 92.96 points, after opening at 92.80 points, and hit a low of 92.77 points.

The US dollar gained 0.1% yesterday, after profit-taking from the 3-month high of 93.19 points stopped.

The greenback gained 0.3% so far this week, on track for the second straight weekly gain.

At 13:45 GMT, the Flash US Manufacturing PMI for July will be released, amid forecasts to reach 62.0 points from 62.1 points in June, and the Services PMI reading is expected at 64.6 points from 64.8 points.

Oil prices continued to rise as the US market opened on Friday, extending gains for the third straight day, thanks to hopes of the continued global demand recovery, which offset the impact of the OPEC-Plus alliance's decision to increase output starting from August.

US crude rose 0.5% to $72.08 a barrel, after opening at $71.72, and hit a low at $71.50, and Brent crude rose 0.7% to $73.94 a barrel, after opening at $73.52, and hit a low of $73.34.

US crude gained 2.1% yesterday, and Brent crude futures rose 1.9%, in the second straight daily gain.

Most energy experts projected global oil prices to continue to rise during the second half of 2021, as the fuel demand growth is expected to be more than the global supply growth.

Global demand growth expectations are based on the continued Covid-19 vaccination, which will contain the increasing infections of the delta-strain variant.

Simultaneously, the market started to digest the OPEC-Plus' output hike of 400,000 barrels per day, which is expected to not lead to a supply glut, especially as the global demand continues to recover.

Euro rose in European trade on Friday away from 3-1/5 month lows against dollar, while still heading for the second weekly profit in a row amid concerns about divergent monetary policies for US and Europe. 

EUR/USD rose 0.1% to 1.1780, with an intraday low at 1.1762, after closing down 0.2% yesterday to near 3-1/5 month lows at 1.1752. 

Euro is still down 0.3%% against dollar this week on track for the second weekly decline in a row. 

The European Central Bank voted to maintain interest rates unchanged yesterday, while carrying on its bonds purchases program valued at 1.85 trillion euros a month until next March.

ECB President Christine Lagarde warned the new Delta coronavirus strain could represent a new threat to recovery in the region, and asserting it's still too early to tighten the policies as inflation and recovery remain tenuous. 

USD/JPY tilted lower in Asian trade off March 2020 highs for the ninth session out of 15 amid a lack of data from Japan due to a national holiday and ahead of US data later today.

As of 07:09 GMT, USD/JPY fell 0.10% to 110.18, with an intraday low at 110.09, and a high at 110.30. 

From the US, unemployment claims for the week ending July 17 are expected down 10 thousand to 360K, while continuing claims for the week ending July 10 are expected down 141K to 3.1 million. 

US existing home sales are expected up 15.5% to 5.89 million in June, compared to a 0.9% drop to 5.8 million in May, while the CB leading index is expected up 0.8%, slowing down from 1.3% in May.