Mar 14, 2022 04:12AM ET
By: AnalysisWatch
The US dollar eased slightly on Monday but still hit a five-year high against the Japanese yen at the start of a week that sees a number of key meetings of central banks, particularly the Federal Reserve.
At 3:10 AM ET, the US dollar index, which traces the greenback versus a basket of six other currencies, was trading 0.2% weaker at 98.993, not far from its highest level since May 2020.
The highlight of an eventful week of central bank meetings will be that of the Federal Reserve, which is widely expected to announce its first rate hike since 2018 on Wednesday.
The USD/JPY rose 0.4% to 117.75, just below its highest level since January 2017.
EUR/USD rose 0.3% to 1.0941, buoyed by optimism that talks between Russia and Ukraine to end the conflict may be making some progress after US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy R. Sherman said on Sunday that Russia had shown signs of willingness to engage in substantive negotiations.
Still, the euro remains under pressure as fighting in Eastern Europe continues and threatens to lead to more diplomatic tensions with the US as the Russians have reportedly asked the Chinese for military help.
GBP/USD increased 0.1% to 1.3049.
AUD/USD fell 0.5% to 0.7252 after rising sharply recently on higher commodity prices.
The USD/CNY rose 0.3% to 6.3592, with the Chinese yuan weighed down by another COVID-19 outbreak that prompted authorities to seal off 17.5 million residents of the Shenzhen tech hub.
The USD/RUB rose 0.7% to 115.1000.