Euro rises as ECB officials confirm an interest rate hike

The euro rose on Tuesday, drawing support from the European Central Bank’s intention to raise interest rates to contain inflation, while the Japanese yen again touched its lowest level in 24 years, affected by the continued pursuit of the Bank of Japan to pursue a very loose monetary policy.

The euro rose 0.5% to $1.0563 after the European Central Bank’s chief economist, Philip Lane, said the bank would raise rates by 25 basis points at its July meeting, but he had not yet determined the size of the rate hike at its September meeting, noting that a larger hike would reach $1.0563. To 50 basis points may be expected.

The dollar rose 0.2 percent to 135.35 yen, not far from a 24-year high of 135.60 yen hit earlier this week.

The dollar index, which measures its value against a basket of six currencies, including the euro and the yen, fell 0.3 percent to 104.10 as markets awaited Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell’s testimony before Congress, which begins on Wednesday.

The Australian dollar rose 0.3 percent after the Governor of the Reserve Bank of Australia indicated several increases in interest rates in the coming period.

The dollar fell 0.2 percent to 0.9651 Swiss francs, while the pound rose 0.4 percent to 1.2294 dollars.

With regard to cryptocurrencies, the price of Bitcoin rose by two percent to $ 20,978, after it failed to move quickly, up or down, from the $ 20 thousand level.