Sharjah24 – Reuters: The dollar held close to a 14-month high against the euro on Thursday, as a surge in energy prices raised the risk for the U.S. Federal Reserve to act sooner to normalise policy.

The U.S. currency was slightly lower at $1.1563 per euro after strengthening to $1.1529 on Wednesday for the first time since July of last year.

The dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of six other major currencies, was little changed at 94.153 following a nearly 0.5% climb over the past two sessions. That took it back to near the one-year high of 94.504 reached last week.

The Japanese yen, another safe haven, was a touch higher at 111.29 per dollar, near the middle of its range of the past week and a half.

Overnight, crude oil rallied to a seven-year high before taking a breather from its recent torrid gains, while natural gas jumped to a record peak in Europe and coal prices from major exporters also hit all-time highs.