LONDON—The euro was on track on Friday for its best week versus the dollar since the COVID-19 pandemic hit, after a hawkish turn by the European Central Bank (ECB) rippled through markets. Rampant inflation across many global economies has forced central banks to tighten monetary policies that had been dramatically loosened to help consumers and businesses weather the financial hit from the pandemic. The ECB had resisted the tide. But on Thursday, despite holding rates in negative territory, President Christine Lagarde acknowledged mounting inflation risks and opened the door to potential rate hikes later this year. Investment banks subsequently brought forward their calls on rate hikes, with Goldman Sachs analysts saying they expected an increase of 25 bps each in September and December, putting the ECB’s policy rate at 0 percent by the end of the year. “That the ECB has now signalled a more urgent path towards hiking rates …