The Dollar is Falling in The Week of Central Bank Meetings

The US dollar slipped on Monday, moving away from 1-1/2-year highs hit on Friday after hawkish comments from a US Federal Reserve official pushed the US bond yield curve to a three-month low.

After the Federal Reserve in its meeting last week clearly indicated a rate hike in March, some investors expect policymakers to be preparing the markets for faster rate hikes this year to curb inflationary pressures.

The price of the dollar fell against a basket of currencies 0.2 percent to 97.02, after rising to its highest level since mid-2020 of 97.44 on Friday.

The dollar’s 1.6 percent rise last week was its biggest gain since mid-2021.

The Australian dollar was among the first gainers against the dollar, rising 0.5% to $0.7043 ahead of the Reserve Bank of Australia’s meeting on Tuesday.

The BoE will hold a meeting on Thursday, and economists polled by Reuters expected a second rate hike in less than two months, with the Bank of England abandoning more stimulus measures it took due to the Coronavirus pandemic after inflation rose to its highest level in nearly 30 years.

The European Central Bank will also hold a policy meeting on Thursday, and no policy change is expected.

In the cryptocurrency market, the price of Bitcoin consolidated above the $37,000 level.