The U.S. Dollar Edged Higher

The dollar increased, extending the previous session’s substantial gains following strong U.S. services data. At the same time, the euro fell despite strong German industrial production figures.

The dollar Index rose 0.1021% to 105.3102, following a 0.7% gain on Monday, its biggest since Nov. 21.

The dollar rose Monday after the Institute for Supply Management’s non-manufacturing purchasing managers’ index rose unexpectedly. This indicated that the country’s dominant services sector remained resilient in November despite the Fed aggressively raising interest rates to combat historic high inflation.

Following Friday’s better-than-expected job growth, there are no doubts that the U.S. central bank will be able to raise interest rates by 75 basis points for the fifth straight meeting next week. The dollar fell 1.3% last week after Fed Chairman Jerome Powell’s speech signaled a slowing in the pace of rate hikes. At the same time, signs that Chinese authorities were loosening their tight COVID mobility restrictions boosted risk sentiment.

The United States economic data calendar is light on Tuesday, and the Fed’s policymakers are in their customary blackout before their policy meeting for 2022 next week.

Currencies

Despite German industrial orders rising 0.8% in October, rather than the 0.1% forecast, the EUR/USD fell 0.101% to 1.04810, continuing the 0.5% overnight drop. Additionally, September’s figures were changed to reflect a 2.9% decline rather than the reported 4.0% decline.

The figures still point to a quarter-on-quarter decline in orders, albeit less severe than anticipated.

GBP/USD rose 0.1% to 1.2194 after falling 0.9% on Monday, while USD/JPY rose 0.3% to 137.19.

As anticipated, the Reserve Bank of Australia increased interest rates by 25 basis points. It led to a 0.4% increase in the AUD/USD to 0.6725.

USD/CNY rose 0.5% to 6.9951, closing in on the closely watched 7-per-dollar level. Meantime, traders await a nationwide relaxation of China’s strict zero-COVID policy.

This week’s focus will be on Chinese trade data, released on Wednesday. They will see how the economy fared in the face of increased COVID restrictions in the previous month.