{
  "id": 1712404,
  "title": "US dollar feeble as rate hike bets dwindle, Iran conflict in focus",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/18/us-dollar-feeble-as-rate-hike-bets-dwindle-iran-conflict-in-focus",
  "topic": "finance",
  "section": "Finance & Markets",
  "published": "2026-08-18T12:46:02.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "The Business Times - Companies & Markets",
    "slug": "the-business-times-companies-markets",
    "url": "https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/banking-finance/us-dollar-feeble-rate-hike-bets-dwindle-iran-conflict-focus"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "The US dollar showed slight gains on Tuesday but remained near multi-month lows against its peers due to traders reducing expectations of rate hikes. Meanwhile, the euro slipped away from its two-month high and the British pound dipped slightly. The US economy has been facing challenges, evident from unexpected job losses and muted inflation readings, prompting investors to lower expectations for a rate increase by the Federal Reserve. In contrast, bond traders were more concerned about potential inflation risks from the Middle East conflict and growing fiscal pressures, driving long-term borrowing costs to their highest levels in decades. The chance of a rate hike at the Fed's September meeting dropped from 52% to 35% according to the CME FedWatch tool. The ongoing Iran-US conflict has added to sentiment fragility, with Iran threatening a \"fully offensive\" military stance. Despite this, the dollar index managed to gain 0.1% to 99.66, partly due to reduced safe-haven flows. Meanwhile, global bond yields rose due to concerns over the impact of the closed Strait of Hormuz on energy prices.",
  "summary": "[SINGAPORE/LONDON] The US dollar rose slightly on Tuesday (Aug 18) but remained near multi-month lows against its peers as traders reduced their...",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}