The U.S. dollar headed toward achieving its first weekly gains in three weeks on Friday, amid relatively quiet trading, in light of declining hopes regarding a swift calming of tensions in the Middle East as a result of the stalling of peace negotiations between the United States and Iran.

And at a time when Lebanon and Israel extended the ceasefire agreement between them for a period of three weeks before its expiration on Sunday, Iran showcased its control over the Strait of Hormuz by publishing footage of its forces storming a massive cargo ship, which kept the timing of the reopening of the most important shipping lane in the world unclear and supported the rise in oil prices.

And the dollar index, which measures the performance of the American currency against a basket of major currencies such as the yen and the euro, decreased by 0.1% to 98.75, but it remained on its way to achieving a weekly gain of about 0.5%. And the euro rose by 0.1% to 1.169 dollars.

The British pound also rose by 0.1%, even though strong British retail sales data for the month of March did not create much of an impact in the markets.

And Tommy von Bromsen said that "the main feature of the past week is the absence of any real progress in the peace talks, which is what makes things difficult for the markets in light of the absence of a clear timeframe."

And Brent crude futures rose by 1.5% to 106.60 dollars per barrel.

And the dollar benefited from the demand for it as a safe haven in light of the state of uncertainty. For it rose in March with the escalation of concerns regarding the conflict, before retreating partially this month with the growing optimism regarding the possibility of reaching a solution.

And Sho Suzuki said that "oil and the dollar still move in close proximity, and with the rise of crude prices again, it seems that the dollar will remain relatively strong."

In contrast, the Japanese yen stabilized after four days of losses, to rise by 0.1% to 159.7 against the dollar.

Anticipation of central bank decisions

Investors are heading now toward a week crowded with central bank decisions, as it is expected that each of the Bank of Japan, the European Central Bank, the Bank of England, and the Federal Reserve will announce their decisions regarding monetary policy.

And von Bromsen explained that "the basic message from the central banks so far is adopting a wait-and-see approach," pointing out that the focus will be on future guidance, in light of the policymakers' assessment of the effects of the rise in energy prices and the secondary repercussions of inflation.

And it is expected that the European Central Bank will keep the interest rate on deposits unchanged on April 30, before raising it in June, according to a poll conducted by Reuters, in an attempt to limit the impact of the energy shock resulting from the war on the economy of the Eurozone.

And in Japan, core inflation slowed to below the target of 2% for the second consecutive month in March, but it is expected to return to rising in the coming months with companies passing on the rise in fuel costs resulting from the Middle East conflict.

And it is likely that the Bank of Japan will keep interest rates unchanged in its meeting next week, while pointing to its readiness to raise them in the future to confront inflationary pressures.

And the Japanese Finance Minister, Satsuki Katayama, confirmed the readiness of the authorities to take "decisive measures" against speculative movements in the currency market.

And the Australian dollar rose by 0.1% to 0.7135 U.S. dollars, and the New Zealand dollar rose by a similar percentage to 0.5859 dollars.

And in the digital currency market, the price of Bitcoin stabilized at approximately 77,895.85 dollars.