The dollar regained some of its gains in early Tuesday trading, hovering near the highest level in a week against major competing currencies, while Bitcoin continued its rise thanks to optimism that US regulators may soon approve Bitcoin exchange-traded funds.
The dollar rose slightly against the yen in early trading in Asia to 147.23, supported by the slowdown in core inflation in Tokyo, which imposed downward pressure on the Japanese currency.
Meanwhile, the euro approached the lowest level in three weeks that it recorded yesterday, Monday, and was last traded at $1.0840. The dollar index also approached the highest level in more than a week, recording 103.59 in the latest reading.
Analysts say the dollar's rise is partly due to the cessation of the intense selling that took place in the past few weeks, which saw the dollar index fall almost three percent during November, the largest monthly decline in a year.
The British pound rose 0.08 percent to $1.2642, but it was somewhat far from its highest levels in three months recorded recently, and the New Zealand dollar also moved slightly away from the highest level in four months and recorded in the latest transactions $0.6173.
The Australian dollar settled at $0.6620 ahead of the Reserve Bank of Australia's interest rate decision scheduled for later on Tuesday, amid expectations that the central bank will keep interest rates unchanged.
As for cryptocurrencies, Bitcoin recorded $41,873 in the latest transactions, a level not far from the previous session’s peak of $42,404, which is the highest level since April 2022.
Prices of the world's largest cryptocurrency rose approximately 153 percent this year due to expectations of a US interest rate cut and bets that US regulators will soon approve Bitcoin exchange-traded funds, opening the market for that cryptocurrency to millions of other investors.
