By Gina Lee

Investing.com – The dollar was up on Monday morning in Asia, while the Russian rouble fell to a record low. Tensions continue to escalate over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Western countries have announced new sanctions against Russia, while Russian President Vladimir Putin has placed nuclear-armed forces under high alert.

By 11:13 ET (11:13 GMT), the index that measures the greenback’s performance against other currencies increased 0.75%, to 97.345 (4:13 GMT).

This pair fell 0.01% to 115.55.

This pair dropped 0.73%, to 0.7179. Australia published data on January month-on–month. It will announce its policy decision the next day.

This pair dropped 0.78% to 0.6682. New Zealand released its February index.

Both the pair fell 0.10% to 6.31109, and both were down 0.43 to 1.3348.

In early trading Monday morning, the rouble dropped to 119 dollars per dollar. This is a significant drop from its previous low of 90 rubles per dollar.

The global SWIFT payment network was blocked by Western countries. The Central Bank of the Russian Federation, or Bank of Russia, responded to the blockade by declaring measures to stabilize the domestic markets and the ruble. However the restrictive measures were imposed on the central bank to stop it from mobilizing its international reserves and weakening the sanctions.

Putin put Russia’s “deterrence troops” on high alert. This increased tensions given that those forces have nuclear weapons.

Meanwhile, the rouble’s losses as the Ukraine conflict intensifies were the dollar’s gains. According to Carol Kong, a strategist at Commonwealth Bank of Australia (OTC), the dollar is in danger of moving above the 97.47 resistance.

The degree of dollar gains depends on volatility and whether global equities are selling off. Also, how tightened the central banks’s policies are. She said that high energy prices had also capped the yen as Japan imports most of its energy needs.

CME’s Fedwatch tool shows that investors now believe there is 95% chance the U.S. Federal Reserve would raise its interest rates by 25 basis point when it meets in February 2022. It is becoming increasingly likely that any European Central Bank hawkish moves will be thwarted by the Ukrainian conflict.

Asia Pacific: A Reserve Bank of New Zealand official told Reuters it was too soon to determine the effect of Russian aggression on Ukraine’s policy, and there is more to be done on controlling inflation.