The US Dollar Regains Some Ground

The dollar rose against the euro and the yen on Monday as investors remained focused on the Federal Reserve’s interest rate hike path after a policymaker said last week’s lower US inflation data was being overstated. Wage growth in the eurozone may be picking up. However, longer-term inflation expectations remain anchored around the European Central Bank’s 2% target.

The dollar index rose less than expected in October. It fueled speculation that the Fed would scale back its aggressive interest rate hikes.

After reaching a three-month high during Asian trading hours, the euro fell 0.24% against the dollar to $1.0322. According to data released Monday, eurozone industrial production rose much more in September. Economists speculated, however, that this could be due to manufacturers pre-loading production in anticipation of energy-related disruptions this winter.

Sterling dropped ahead of British Chancellor Jeremy Gaunt’s autumn statement on Thursday. He should announce tax increases and spending cuts. The pound was down 0.77% at $1.11738 after rising 4% in the previous two sessions, reaching its highest since late August on Friday.

The dollar index rose 0.741% to 107.0712, comparing the US dollar to a basket of six other significant currencies like the euro, yen, and sterling.

The crypto exchange token was up 4.79% on the day at $1.49 but down 94% month to date.

Bitcoin had dropped to $15,784 earlier in the day before recovering slightly to trade up 1.82% at $16,607.

In response to the central bank’s largest official guidance fixing increase since 2005, when Beijing ended the yuan’s ten-year peg to the dollar, the onshore Chinese currency increased to almost two-month highs against the US dollar.