Dollar is rising and the pound is near its highest level in a year

The dollar rose on Tuesday after a survey showed that credit conditions in the United States were less bleak than expected, while the pound sterling flirted with its highest levels in a year amid expectations that the Bank of England (central) will raise interest rates this week.

Currencies were little affected by data showing Chinese imports contracted sharply in April on an annual basis, with exports growing at a slower pace in March.

The Chinese yuan in foreign markets fell 0.1 percent to 6.9282 yuan per dollar, and the yuan lost in domestic transactions by the same percentage, recording 6.9218 yuan per dollar.

China’s official purchasing managers’ index last month showed that manufacturing activity contracted unexpectedly in April, another sign of the country’s unstable economic recovery after the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Australian dollar rose 0.03% to $0.6783, close to a three-week high of $0.6804 it hit on Monday.

The New Zealand dollar fell 0.08% to $0.6340, but it was not far from its one-month high of $0.63585 recorded in the previous session.

The dollar index settled at around 101.44, giving up some of its early gains during Tuesday’s trading session.

The Japanese yen rose about 0.15 percent to 134.92 yen per dollar.

The pound sterling was last trading at $1.2618, not far from the highest level in a year recorded in the last session at $1.2668 before the Bank of England’s monetary policy meeting on Thursday.

The central bank is expected to raise interest rates to 4.5 percent as part of its attempts to curb the highest level of inflation among all advanced economies.