Dollar down, investors expect additional interest rate hikes

The U.S. Dollar Index that tracks the greenback against a basket of other currencies inched down 0.05% to 103.632

The dollar was down on Tuesday morning in Asia, but the moves were small. Investors expect additional increases of the same magnitudes as the U.S. Federal Reserve raised its interest rate to 1%.

The U.S. Dollar Index that tracks the greenback against a basket of other currencies inched down 0.05% to 103.632 by 3:36 AM GMT. It rose as high as 104.19 overnight, a 20-year peak.

The USD/JPY pair inched down 0.05% to 130.19.

The AUD/USD pair inched down 0.01% to 0.6955. The NZD/USD pair inched up 0.02% to 0.6329.

The USD/CNY pair fell 0.17% to 6.7188. Shanghai is further tightening its lockdown measures as China reiterated its zero-Covid policy.

The GBP/USD pair gained 0.23% to 1.2359.

Central banks have raised their interest rates to tame inflation.

The Fed delivered its first half-point rate hike since 2000 last Thursday. The Bank of England also raised its interest rate to 1% as it handed down its policy decision on the day, the highest since 2009.

The U.S. 10-year Treasury yields have climbed to their highest level since 2018 as investors expect the Fed to aggressively tamp down inflation.

As investors expect additional increases of the same magnitudes from the Fed, Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic said on Monday that he sees no 75-bps rate hike, noting some signs of cooling inflation.

On the data front, investors now await U.S. Core Consumer Price Index (CPI) on Wednesday, as well as the U.S. Producer Price Index and initial jobless claims, which are due on Thursday.

In cryptocurrencies, bitcoin fell below $30,000, the first time since July 2021. It was later firmer at around $30,600.