The US dollar is steadily strengthening against the euro, yen and pound sterling in trading on Monday.

Trading activity on the currency market remains low, as the exchanges of Great Britain, Germany, France and other European countries, as well as Hong Kong and Australia are closed due to Easter holidays.

High geopolitical uncertainty increases demand for the dollar and other assets of “safe harbor”, experts of Kenanga Research note. The dollar is also supported by expectations of faster tightening of monetary policy by the Federal Reserve System (FRS) in comparison with other leading world Central Banks.

Thus, Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda on Monday reiterated the Japanese Central Bank’s commitment to a soft monetary policy, despite the emerging calls for its tightening to curb the weakening yen.

“We need to continue the current soft policy as Japan’s inflation has not reached 2 percent,” Kuroda said during a speech to a committee of the country’s parliament on Monday. The time to discuss policy tightening has not yet come, he added. Kuroda acknowledged, however, that the recent sharp fluctuations in the yen exchange rate are having a negative impact on the economy.

As of 9:34 Moscow time, the dollar against the yen rose 0.14% to 126.64 yen from 126.46 yen at the end of the previous session.

The euro against the dollar decreased by 0.12% to $1.0797 compared to $1.0810 at market close on Friday. The pound to the dollar fell 0.28% to $1.3024 from $1.3060.

The ICE-calculated index, which shows the dollar’s performance against six currencies (euro, Swiss franc, yen, Canadian dollar, pound sterling and Swedish krona), added 0.4%, while the broader WSJ Dollar Index added 0.24%.