© Reuters. US dollars of different denominations in a photo from the Reuters archive.NEW YORK (Reuters) – The dollar rose to a near two-week high against a basket of currencies on Monday ahead of an expected 25 basis point interest rate hike by the Federal Reserve. … This is the lowest in three years.
Investors will focus on whether the U.S. central bank will pause interest rate hikes after May or decide on another hike after its two-day meeting in June or next Wednesday.
“A lot of people are saying the Fed will signal a pause, but I don’t think it will,” said Mark Sandler, chief market strategist at Bannockburn Global Forex in New York. “The Fed wants to retain some discretion and flexibility. .”
The dollar rose after the Institute for Supply Management said on Monday its US manufacturing purchasing managers’ index rose to 47.1 in March from 46.3, the lowest level since May 2020.
The focus this week will be on US jobs data due out on Friday. An increase of 180,000 jobs is expected in April.
It rose 0.41 percent to 102.13 in recent trade today, after hitting a high of 102.19 since April 19.
It was down 0.43 percent at $1.0970.
The dollar rose 0.84 percent to 137.46 yen against the Japanese currency in recent trades, its highest level since March eighth.
The Australian dollar rose 0.20% to $0.6630, off Friday’s seven-week low of $0.6573.
(Prepared by Muhammad Ali Faraq for Arabian Bulletin – Editing by Mahmoud Abdel-Kawad)
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