Dollar Gaining Ground In Holiday Trading

The dollar is rising against its major rivals Monday afternoon. The Veterans Day holiday is keeping some investors away from their desks, but concerns over Brexit and the Italian budget have helped to drive the buck higher.

The budget stalemate between Italy and European Union has investors in a cautious mood as the deadline to present a revised budget plan by the Italian government neared.

Italian Deputy Premier Matteo Salvini said Sunday that the government could block European Union budget decisions and other policies if the bloc's partners continue to show disrespect to Italians.

The EU has asked Italy to come up with a revised budget plan by Tuesday.

European Central Bank Vice President Luis de Guindos cautioned that Italy's budget crisis poses concerns about public finances given high debt level and the political tensions around the Italian government's budget plans.

The dollar has climbed to over a 16-month high of $1.1240 against the Euro Monday afternoon, from an early low of $1.1330.

The buck has risen to around $1.2850 against the pound sterling Monday afternoon, from a low of $1.2946 this morning.

The greenback reached an early high of Y114.207 against the Japanese Yen Monday, but has since retreated to around Y113.845.

Producer prices in Japan were up 0.3 percent on month in October, the Bank of Japan said on Monday, unchanged from the September reading. On a yearly basis, producer prices climbed 2.9 percent, slowing from 3.0 percent in the previous month.