Dollar continues to rise and pushes the euro and yen to the lowest levels in decades

The dollar continued to rise on Thursday, reaching levels not reached in 24 years against the yen and close to parity with the euro, amid speculation by traders that the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates to combat inflation.

Global economic turmoil pushed the dollar’s price to rise sharply as a safe haven for value, with the dollar index, which measures its value against six currencies, rising by more than 13 percent this year. It rose 0.2 percentage point Thursday to 108,500.

The dollar rose more than one percent against the yen, to more than 139 yen to the dollar for the first time since 1998. It rose in the last trading 1.3 percent to 139.18 yen to the dollar.

The price of the euro fluctuated directly above its parity with the dollar, a day after it fell from this level for the first time in 20 years. The single currency was down 0.5 percent on Thursday and was last down 0.3 percent to $1.00310.

Sterling fell 0.2 percent to $1.18580, as concerns persisted about the outlook for the British economy, despite data on Wednesday showing an unexpected rise in gross domestic product in May.