Dollar prowls just below highs as euro gasps for gas

The dollar began the week nudging down from multi-year highs, with a hotter-than-forecast inflation reading in New Zealand lending modest support to the kiwi, though fears about Europe’s gas supply put a cap on dollar selling, Reuters reported.

The greenback has soared this year thanks to a combination of rising U.S. interest rates and wobbling economies in Europe and China. It pushed above parity on the euro EUR=EBS for the first time in almost 20 years last week, before easing back.

The euro last bought $1.00955 and the yen JPY=EBS, which has tumbled about 17% this year, steadied at 138.37 per dollar. The New Zealand dollar and the Aussie inched higher after inflation surged to a three-decade high in New Zealand.

Traders are holding their breath ahead of Thursday, when gas is supposed to resume flowing through the Nord Stream pipe from Russia to Germany after a shutdown for scheduled maintenance.