Dollar and the Euro Fell After Lagarde’s Speech

It was not an easy day for the U.S. dollar as well as the euro. Both of them eased on Monday after European Central Bank’s (ECB) President Christine Lagarde calmed market expectations of a quick hike in interest rates that pushed regional bond yields in Europe up to multi-year highs.

Christine Lagarde expressed her opinion in the European Parliament. According to Lagarde, there is no need for significant monetary policy tightening in the euro zone as inflation is set to fall and could stabilize around the central bank’s target of 2%. 

Last week, the central bank opened the door to a rate hike later this year. Meanwhile, data showing an unexpected jump in U.S. jobs created in January also raised the speculation of a faster timetable for the Federal Reserve to hike rates.

The new rate expectations for both central banks pit the greenback and euro against each other. 

Dollar, euro, and other currencies

On Monday, major currencies traded in a tight range near break-even. The dollar index which tracks the U.S. currency against a basket of currencies dropped 0.45%. The euro dropped 0.03% to $1.1443.

On Friday, the euro reached its highest point since mid-January, supported by the hawkish turn from the central bank.

Mark Haefele from UBS Global Wealth Management expects the single currency to decline to $1.10 by the end of the year. He also expects the U.S. dollar to rise against the Swiss franc to finish the year at 0.98 francs per dollar. 

The Japanese yen gained 0.13% against the U.S. currency to 115.05 per dollar. 

The British pound stood at $1.3526, up 0.05% on the day.

The world’s most-recognizable cryptocurrency reached its highest point in four weeks. Bitcoin gained 8.94% to $44,279.81 after jumping 11% late on Friday.