U.S. Dollar Climbs On Rising Treasury Yields Amid Fed Tightening Prospects

The U.S. dollar was higher against its most major counterparts in the European session on Monday, as a spike in the Omicron variant cases across the world made investors cautious and as U.S. treasury yields rose on expectations for a faster pace of tightening by the Federal Reserve.

The Omicron variant has been reported in 38 countries and at least 15 states in the U.S.

Anthony Fauci, the top U.S. infectious disease official, said that the variant did not appear to have a great degree of severity.

He added that more study will be required before drawing definitive conclusions on the strain.

The U.S. inflation data for November is due on Friday. Economists expect an increase of 0.7 percent month-on-month and 6.7 percent year-on-year.

Fed Chair Jerome Powell said last week that the central bank is considering to speed up the tapering of bond purchases, raising the chances of an earlier rate hike than expected.

The yield on 10-year U.S. treasuries rose to 1.39 percent. Yields move inversely to prices.

The greenback advanced to 113.37 against the yen and 1.1275 against the euro, off its early lows of 112.83 and 1.1315, respectively. The greenback is likely to challenge resistance around 115.00 against the yen and 1.10 against the euro.

The greenback spiked up to a 6-day high of 0.9227 against the franc, after falling to near a 4-week low of 0.9156 at 5 pm ET. If the greenback rises further, it may find resistance around the 0.94 level.

In contrast, the greenback was down against the kiwi, the aussie and the loonie, dropping to 0.6764, 0.7041 and 1.2783, respectively. Next key support for the greenback may be seen around 0.70 against the kiwi, 0.72 against the the aussie and 1.25 against the loonie.

The greenback slipped to 1.3286 against the pound from Friday's closing value of 1.3232. The greenback may locate support around the 1.34 level.