Dollar edges up on first trading day of 2023
Dollar ended 2022 with its best year since 2015
But sentiment turning on view of peak rates

LONDON, Jan 2 Reuters The dollar edged up on Monday, pulling away from recent sixmonth lows against a basket of major currencies, for now.

It has weakened recently as markets bet a U.S. Federal Reserve tightening cycle may be nearing an end and sentiment remained fragile.

And the first trading day of the year was subdued, with many countries including big trading centres such as Britain and Japan closed for a holiday.

The dollar index, which measures the value of the greenback against a basket of other major currencies, was trading up around 0.16 at 103.65 off roughly sixmonth lows hit last week at around 103.38.

The euro was down about a third of a percent at 1.0680 , but not far off its highest levels since June.

Against the yen, the dollar was a touch softer at 130.94 , having hit its lowest levels since August last month.

There is an attempt by the dollar index to pull higher today but we do see that it is losing a good part of the strength it gained last year, said Ulrich Leuchtmann, head of forex research at Commerzbank.

After the last Fed meeting, the market was not convinced that the Fed won39;t cut rates later in 2023. It39;s going to be an interesting year.

Having raised rates by a total of 425 basis points since March to curb surging inflation, the Fed has started to slow the pace of hikes.

That Fed tightening…