The dollar rose once morest a basket of rival currencies over the past month, especially once morest the euro, which has come under pressure due to investor concerns regarding the economic costs of the war in Ukraine and the presidential elections in France, which is witnessing a fierce competition.
The dollar index climbed to a high of 100 points in early European trading hours, its best performance since May 2020. It later lost some momentum and settled in the most recent trading at 99.876.
The index rose 1.4% this week in its biggest increase in a month, buoyed by statements tending to tighten monetary policy from several policy makers at the Federal Reserve (the US central bank) who are calling for a faster pace of interest rate increases to curb inflation.
The euro fell to a new one-month low of $1.0848. It was last down 0.2% at $1.0865.
Thursday’s European Central Bank meeting minutes indicated that policy makers are keen to combat inflation, but the euro zone has so far taken a more cautious stance than other central banks, which has weakened the euro.
The dollar extended its gains once morest the Japanese yen, recording 124.23, the highest level in more than a week, close to its best performance in 7 years at 125.1 recorded last month.
The yen has stabilized this month following falling in March, but remains under pressure as the US raises interest rates and the Bank of Japan intervenes in the bond market to keep rates low.
The British pound was down once morest the US currency, dropping 0.2% in the latest trading, recording $1.30475.
In the cryptocurrency markets, bitcoin rose 1% to regarding $43,890.
