©Reuters. US dollar coins in an illustrative photo taken on July 17, 2022. Photo: Dado Rovic/Reuters.
By Amanda Cooper and John McCrank
NEW YORK (Reuters) – It fell to a seven-month low on Monday as traders bet recent economic data will prompt the Federal Reserve to slow interest rate hikes, while China’s reopening of borders has strengthened currencies.
The euro rose 0.95% to 1.0745 against the dollar by 17:30 GMT, the most against the greenback since June 9, after rising 1.17% on Friday.
Ed rose 0.72% to $1.218 against the dollar, after rising 1.5% on Friday, and rose 1.1% to $0.9174, its highest level since early March.
The dollar’s downward trend, which recorded its largest quarterly losses in 12 years, continued in the final three months of 2022, buoyed by investors’ belief that the Fed will not raise interest rates more than five percent current between 4.25% and 4.50%, with the drop in inflation and growth.
The monthly jobs report released on Friday showed an increase in the number of nonfarm payrolls and a slowdown in wage growth, which is good news for the US central bank.
There were other signs of an economic slowdown, with US service sector activity contracting for the first time in more than two-and-a-half years in December.
The dollar index, which measures the performance of the US dollar against six major currencies, fell to a seven-month low of 0.2% at 103.54 after falling 1.15% on Friday as investors rallied. aimed at riskier activities.
Elsewhere, China continued to relax many of its strict rules on movement and anti-Covid policy and reopened its borders.
Optimism about the speed of the economy’s recovery led to offshore trading on Monday to its highest level in five months against the dollar.
The Australian dollar was up 1.05% to $0.69475, its highest level against the US currency since August 30, while the New Zealand dollar was up 0.7% to $0.6394.
(Report by Yasmine Hussein and Noha Zakaria for the Arab Bulletin – Edited by Mustafa Saleh)
