The U.S. dollar edged lower in early European trade Thursday ahead of key growth data, while sterling continued to fall in the wake of rapidly cooling U.K. inflation.

At 04:30 ET (09:30 GMT), the Dollar Index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of six other currencies, traded 0.1% lower at 102.010, down almost 2% so far this year.

Gold prices moved little in Asian trade on Thursday, sticking to a trading range established over the past week as markets speculated over just when the Federal Reserve will begin trimming interest rates.

The yellow metal stuck to a range between $2,000 and $2,050 an ounce seen over the past week. While dovish signals from the Fed helped the metal break above the $2,000 an ounce level, it struggled to make further gains as risk appetite improved and as traders second guessed expectations for early rate cuts from the Fed.

The U.S. dollar edged higher in early European trade Wednesday, while sterling slumped as rapidly cooling inflation lifted expectations of Bank of England rate cuts next year.

At 03:05 ET (08:05 GMT), the Dollar Index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of six other currencies, traded 0.1% higher at 101.894, not far removed from its recent four-month low of 101.76.

Oil rose nearly 2% on Monday as investors worried about disruptions to maritime trade and supply costs after the Iran-aligned Yemeni Houthi militant group attacked ships in the Red Sea.

A Norwegian-owned vessel was attacked in the Red Sea on Monday and oil major BP (NYSE:BP) said it had temporarily paused all transit through the water. Other shipping firms said over the weekend that they would avoid the route.

Bitcoin (BTC) remains at an inflection point, with the price slipping by 1.18% to $41,148.47 at the time of writing. Despite the consensus among analysts that Bitcoin might be in a bull market cycle, top market expert Ali Martinez has an important network metric that must be closely watched in the drive toward a full-blown bull cycle.

According to Martinez, there has been a "noticeable dip in Bitcoin network growth" over the past month. This, according to him, is casting doubt on the sustainability of Bitcoin’s recent move to $44,000. It is worth noting that Bitcoin soared as high as $44,705.52 on Dec. 8 as the hype surrounding the Bitcoin ETF hit a new high.

The U.S. dollar slipped against the euro on Monday, extending last week's fall, as the U.S. currency remains under pressure from the Federal Reserve's signaling last week the possibility of interest rate cuts next year.

The dollar was higher against the yen as the Bank of Japan (BOJ) kicked off a two-day meeting that could be crucial in determining the timing of the end of the central bank’s ultra-loose stance on interest rates.

Gold prices rose slightly in Asian trade on Friday, extending a push above key levels after dovish signals from the Federal Reserve sparked steep losses in the dollar and Treasury yields.

The yellow metal rebounded from recent losses this week after the Fed said it was done raising interest rates, and will consider deeper interest rate cuts in 2024. The Fed’s comments saw markets pricing in at least three rate cuts by the central bank, with the first one coming as soon as March 2024.

The dollar fell to a two-week low against the euro and a more than four-month low against the Japanese yen in a broad based selloff on Thursday, after the Federal Reserve on Wednesday indicated that rate cuts are likely next year.

The euro and pound, meanwhile, were supported by the European Central Bank and the Bank of England affirming the need to hold rates higher for longer.

 In a recent analysis, renowned crypto analyst sounded the alarm as slipped below a critical supply zone, ranging from $41,200 to $42,400.

Martinez, utilizing on-chain data from IntoTheBlock, highlighted that 1.87 million addresses, holding a substantial 730,000 BTC, were accumulated in this precarious territory.

Gold prices touched an all-time high on Monday, but later pared back some of these gains, as traders bet on the potential for a Federal Reserve interest rate cut next year. 

By 07:26 ET (12:26 GMT), spot gold was mostly unchanged at $2,071.29 a troy ounce, retreating slightly from an earlier rally that had lifted the typical safe haven asset to a record $2,135 per troy ounce. Gold posted strong gains last week, and also rose for a second consecutive month in November.