On Monday, the dollar fell to its lowest level in seven months against the euro, which rose 0.95% to 1.0745, and the British pound rose 0.72% to 1.218 against the dollar, and the Swiss franc rose 1.1% to $0.9174.
Sharjah 24 – Reuters:
The dollar fell to its lowest level in seven months against the euro on Monday, as traders bet recent economic data will prompt the US Federal Reserve to slow the pace of interest rate hikes as borders reopen Chinese strengthened currencies that have been released carry higher risks.
The euro was up 0.95% to 1.0745 against the dollar by 17:30 GMT, its highest level against the US currency since June 9, after rising 1.17% on Friday.
The British pound rose 0.72% to 1.218 against the dollar, after rising 1.5% on Friday, and the Swiss franc was up 1.1% to $0.9174, its highest level since beginning of March.
The dollar’s downtrend, which posted its largest quarterly losses in 12 years, continued in the final three months of 2022, buoyed by investors’ belief that the Reserve Board will not raise interest rates more than 5% relative to theirs. current levels between 4.25% and 4.50% with declining 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 its lowest level in seven months by 0.2% at 103.54 after falling 1.15% on Friday as investors they turned to 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 economic recovery lifted the offshore yuan to a five-month high against the dollar on Monday.
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.
