Ammon News - The dollar steadied on Monday, holding its biggest weekly gain since 2022, as escalating conflict in the Middle East and the prospect of stubbornly high U.S. interest rates gave support.

The dollar went up 1.6% against a basket of six major currencies last week after a small but unnerving upside surprise in U.S.

inflation cast doubt over bets on U.S. rate cuts, while European policymakers signalled a cut within a few months.

It made a five-month top on the euro on Friday and traded near those levels early in the Asia day, buying a euro for $1.0655.

The yen was the main loser on Monday, marking a 34-year low at 153.85 to the dollar.

The yen's slide against the dollar has revived anticipation of currency intervention. Japanese Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki said he was watching currency moves closely, and that Tokyo is "fully prepared" to act.

Reuters