Dollar on track for best month in 4-1/2 years

NEW YORK: The dollar gained on Wednesday, headed for its biggest monthly rise since November 2016, supported overall by a surprisingly hawkish shift in the US Federal Reserve’s rates outlook at a meeting early this month, as well as concern over the spread of the Delta coronavirus variant.

The dollar has gained about 2.6% against a basket of currencies this month, partly in the wake of the Fed stance. Traders are looking to Friday’s US nonfarm payrolls report for a likely confirmation of a shift in monetary policy.

In midmorning trading, the dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, rose 0.3% % to 92.319 after earlier touching a more than one-week high of 92.324.

For the first half of the year, the dollar climbed 2.5%, the best half-year performance since August 2019.

The euro was down 0.2% against the dollar at $1.1896. Against the yen, the dollar was firmer at 110.71 yen.

The Aussie and New Zealand dollars were down 0.2% at US$0.7502 and US$0.6983 respectively.—Reuters