Dollar rises for fourth straight day

The US dollar rose against a basket of currencies on Monday, to head for the fourth daily gain in row, amid growing expectations of an imminent US interest rate hike, and after fears over the Omicron variant receded.

The dollar index rose 0.25% to 96.38 points, after opening at 96.15 points, and hit a low at 96.14 points.

The index gained less than 0.1% on Friday, the third straight daily gain, thanks to improved investors' risk appetite.

The greenback gained 0.1% last week, the sixth straight weekly gain, after the hawkish statements of the Federal Reserve Chairman.

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell expressed to the US Congress that monetary policy makers will consider taking faster action to reduce bond buying during the December meeting.

President of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, Mary Daly, said that it might be time to make a plan to raise interest rates to combat inflation.

These statements increased the market pricing of a US rate hike by 25 basis points in June 2022 to 100%.

The South African Medical Research Council published that early observations in Pretoria showed that most Covid-19 patients are not dependent on receiving oxygen.