By Gina Lee

Investing.com – The dollar was up on Friday morning in Asia, hitting a one-month high against the euro as a more hawkish U.S. Federal Reserve monetary policy supported the U.S. currency.

This chart tracks the greenback’s performance against a basket currency by tracking it at 11:48PM ET. It was 3:48AM GMT.

This pair climbed 0.04% to 123.97.

Both were steady at 0.7479, but the pair was 0.13% lower to 0.6881.

Both the pairs increased by 0.3% to 6.3624, while they decreased by 0.02% from 1.3071 to 1.3071

In early Asia trading the dollar index reached a high of 99.904 which was its highest level since May 2020. The index is up 1.2% over the past week. This would mark its largest advance in a single month. The Fed’s recent hawkish tone, reflected in the and a speaking at separate events on Thursday, has also given the U.S. currency a boost.

Simon Harvey, Monex Europe Ltd.’s head of FX analysis said that recent gains in dollar index “seem fairly sustainable over the rest of the month as market settles on the idea of a more aggressive Fed in the Second Quarter,” Reuters.

“However, we believe further upside in the dollar is unlikely without a recalibration of the Fed’s terminal rate in markets. The limited upside available in Fed pricing currently based on current fundamentals is the main reason for this.

The euro dropped to $1.0856 per month across the Atlantic after the European Union decided to ban Russian coal starting in August 2022. These sanctions are currently being considered or have been imposed against Russia after its February 24 invasion of Ukraine.

Harvey said that while the European Central Bank is struggling with inflation, “while ECB member have sounded relatively hawkish toward the recent inflation shock,” Harvey added.

There is uncertainty in France’s presidential election, which begins April. The euro is also being hit by 10. Emmanuel Macron, the incumbent is leading in polls at present. However Marine Le Pen, the far-right candidate is making steady gains.

Dollar continued its gains against Japanese yen. The dollar reached its highest in almost a week. Even though the yen has stabilized over the past month after its tumble in March, it is still under pressure as the Bank of Japan continues to intervene in the bond markets to lower interest rates.

The bitcoin price was just over $43,300, and slightly higher than its 2-week low of $42,742.