Dollar recovers some of its gains and Bitcoin exceeds $41,000

The dollar rose on Monday, regaining some gains after declining for three consecutive weeks due to bets that the Federal Reserve (the US central bank) will cut interest rates soon, while Bitcoin exceeded $41,000 for the first time since early 2022.

In the latest trading, the euro fell 0.1 percent to $1.0876, while the dollar index rose 0.19 percent to 103.33.

The euro rose 3 percent against the dollar last month and reached its highest level since August, when it exceeded $1.10, as data showed that inflation in the United States was slowing rapidly. The dollar index fell 3.1 percent in November, its largest monthly decline in a year.

“November… was a very bad month for the dollar, partly due to expectations of easing monetary policy from the Federal Reserve… We see room for a change in course by the end of the year,” said Colin Asher, chief economist at Mizuho Bank in London.

The British pound fell 0.27 percent to $1.2675 on Monday, and the Australian dollar fell 0.44 percent to $0.6646. The dollar also rose against the Swiss franc, 0.31 percent, to 0.8723 francs in the latest trading.

Bitcoin rose to its highest level since April 2022 to more than $41,700 after investor bets that the Reserve Board had finished raising interest rates led to a boost to riskier assets in financial markets.

Fed Chairman Jerome Powell said on Friday that the US central bank was prepared to tighten monetary policy further if necessary, but he also said that interest rates had slowed inflation.

There was little change in the dollar against the yen, recording 146.69 against the Japanese currency after falling to 146.24 yen in the Asian session, reaching its lowest level since mid-September.