The US currency holds positions close to the 19-month highs at the beginning of the new trading week, amid increased investor nervousness regarding the slowdown in the global economy, which led to a decrease in demand for risky assets such as stocks and Asian currencies.

At the moment, the EURUSD pair is at 1.1316 and the single European currency is trading in a small plus.

The weaker than expected economic data from China and Europe and the fears associated with a possible suspension of the activities of the US government force traders to stay out of stock and invest in the safest dollar and yen.

The dollar index this morning is being traded virtually unchanged at about 97.43 - lower than the 19-month high of 97.71 reached on Friday.

The Australian dollar has weakened somewhat - to $ 0.7172. The previous week, he lost 0.3 percent of its value after the release of weaker than expected statistics from China - Australia's main trading partner. The growth rates of retail sales in China in November were the slowest since 2003, and the growth of industrial production was the smallest in almost 3 years against the background of the continued weakening of the Chinese economy.

In addition to the state of the world economy, the focus of investors is the probable trajectory of the financial and credit policy of the US Fed.

The Fed is expected to raise the key interest rate by 25 basis points during the two-day meeting, which will begin tomorrow.

The dollar rose 0.1 percent against the yen to 113.45.

The single European currency traded without significant changes near the $ 1.1316 mark, having lost 0.6 percent last week after the release of rather weak data on business activity in Germany and France, as well as against the background of anti-government protests in the French capital.

GBP still remains under pressure, decreasing by 0.1 percent to $ 1.2582.