Investing.com – The dollar rose to an eight-week high against a basket of currencies amid a slump in both the yen and Aussie dollar, while a rise in the 10-year U.S. treasury yield close an important 3% level also lifted sentiment.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, rose 0.65% to 90.67.
The 10-year US treasury yield neared an important 3% level as investors added to bets for the Federal Reserve to hike rates four times this year.
According to investing.com’s Fed rate monitor tool, the odds of a fourth rate hike rose to 40% from about 25% last month. This comes on the back of growing investor expectations for a continued uptick in U.S. economic growth and inflation.
A flurry of mostly positive economic data also underpinned a move higher in the greenback as services, manufacturing PMIs and housing data topped economists’ estimates.
Easing U.S.-China trade relations, meanwhile, also helped lift sentiment on the greenback after U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said on Saturday he may travel to China to discuss trade-related issues.
Easing trade-war fears, lessened demand for safe-haven yen, as USD/JPY rose 0.93% to Y108.66, its highest in more than two months. Weakness in the yen comes despite growing uncertainty surrounding the future of Japan Prime Minister Shinzo Abe after his approval ratings continued to edged lower.
Elsewhere, reports the U.S. may lift sanctions on Rusal, eased commodity supply shortage fears, sending the commodity-sensitive AUD/USD tumbling to $0.7609, down 0.82%.
GBP/USD fell below $1.4000, while EUR/USD fell 0.63% to $1.2211 ahead of the European Central Bank meeting slated for Thursday.