U.S. Dollar Rises As Trump's Tariff Threats To BRICS Nations

The U.S. dollar strengthened against other major currencies in the Asian session on Monday, after the U.S. President-elect Donald Trump has threatened the BRICS grouping with "100 percent tariffs" if they moved to create a new currency or back any other option as the world's reserve.

Traders also remain optimistic of a further interest rate cut by the U.S. Fed in December. The Fed is widely expected to ease interest rates. The CME FedWatch tool is now showing the likelihood of a quarter-point Fed rate cut in December at 66 percent and the probability of a pause at 34 percent.

In the Asian trading today, the U.S. dollar rose to 5-day highs of 1.0515 against the euro and 0.8854 against the Swiss franc, from Friday's closing quotes of 1.0575 and 0.8809, respectively. If the greenback extends its uptrend, it is likely to find resistance around 1.03 against the euro and 0.89 against the franc.

Against the pound and the yen, the greenback edged up to 1.2680 and 150.75 from last week's closing quotes of 1.2737 and 149.75, respectively. On the upside, 1.24 against the pound and 155.00 against the yen are seen as the next resistance levels for the greenback.

The greenback advanced to a 4-day high of 0.6490 against the Australian dollar, from Friday's closing value of 0.6510. The next possible upside target for the greenback is seen around the 0.63 region.

Against the New Zealand and the Canadian dollars, the greenback edged up to 0.5890 and 1.4042 from last week's closing quotes of 0.5915 and 1.4002, respectively. The greenback may test resistance around 0.57 against the kiwi and 1.42 against the loonie.

Looking ahead, PMI reports for November from various European economies and U.K. and Eurozone unemployment data for October are slated for release in the European session.

In the New York session, U.S. and Canada manufacturing PMI for November and U.S. construction spending for October are set to be released.