Dollar Holds in a Narrow Range Ahead of the Midterms as Bitcoin Steadies After the Crypto Heist

The dollar and other major currencies were in a holding pattern on Monday as investors turned their attention to this week's U.S. midterm elections, which could shift the balance of power in Congress and control over the federal purse strings, Reuters reported in the dispatch read by this desk. Traders were bracing for a packed week dominated by the midterms, October U.S. jobs data and central bank rate decisions in the UK, Australia, Norway and Sweden.

Ahead of the week's events, the euro languished near a 17-month low at $1.1159 in early Asian trade, weighed down by Fitch's revision of France's outlook to 'negative' from 'stable,' Reuters reported. Sterling was little changed at $1.3387, the dollar steadied at 101.94 against a basket of currencies, and the yen eased 0.15 percent to 157.78 per dollar. The Australian dollar was flat at $0.7033 ahead of Tuesday's policy decision, where the Reserve Bank of Australia is widely expected to raise its cash rate to 4.85 percent.

In cryptocurrencies, bitcoin and ether were nursing losses following last week's record $6.3 billion heist at Binance, the world's largest crypto exchange, Reuters reported. Bitcoin was up 0.22 percent at $77,975.62, having fallen to a six-week low on Friday, and ether was up 0.27 percent to $2,268.42 after a two-month trough. Binance customers pulled $3.64 billion, or 2.1 percent of its assets, as the exchange went back online on Sunday after hackers the FBI links to North Korea stole billions from the platform; Binance said withdrawals were stabilising after an initial spike. The withdrawal figures were covered by this station on Monday (SQ-20261102-007); this story carries the wider markets picture.

Americans head to the polls on Tuesday to determine whether Democrats can wrest control of Congress away from President Donald Trump's Republican Party; Democrats are widely predicted to win the House of Representatives, but the Senate is more in doubt, Reuters reported. Analysts quoted by Reuters cautioned that polling suggesting strong anti-incumbent sentiment does not always translate into election outcomes.