Dollar hits two-week high, Middle East conflict and rate paths in focus

(Corrects milestone to 'two-week high', not 'seven-week high', in headline and first paragraph)

By Stefano Rebaudo and Satoshi Sugiyama

Sept 2 (Reuters) - The dollar hit a two-week high on Wednesday as investors turned to the U.S. currency amid growing concerns about the economic impact of the energy shock and weighed diverging monetary policy paths across major economies.

The U.S. and Iran found themselves back on a war footing on Wednesday after the most significant exchange of fire in weeks.

The greenback tends to benefit from higher oil prices because the U.S. economy is less exposed to energy shocks than many other major economies, attracting demand at the expense of currencies such as the euro and yen.

While most economists expect the European Central Bank to be near the end of its tightening cycle after next week's widely anticipated rate hike, the Federal Reserve is confronting a growing risk of having to tighten policy in 2027.

“We expect the ECB to finish its hiking cycle by the end of the year, while the Federal Reserve will likely be just beginning to raise rates,” George Brown, senior economist at Schroders, said.

“That should widen rate differentials in favour of the dollar and lead to a weaker euro by year,” he added, flagging Schroders is positioned for a weaker euro and expects the single currency to fall to $1.10 against the dollar by year-end.

However, a selloff in U.S. Treasuries driven by concerns about inflation and the country's fiscal trajectory can weigh on the dollar, as rising debt levels and persistent price pressures raise doubts about the long-term appeal of U.S. assets.

The dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of currencies including the yen and the euro, rose 0.11% to 99.76, after reaching 99.808, its highest point since August 17. The euro was down 0.16% at $1.1575, after hitting $1.1570, its lowest since August 20.

The yield on the benchmark U.S. 10-year note rose to as high as 4.812%, its firmest since November 2023, before retreating to 4.804%. [US/] Japan's benchmark 10-year yield extended its rally to 3.01% on Wednesday after reaching a three-decade milestone of 3% on Tuesday.

Markets are now pricing in a 70% chance of a September Fed hike, up from around 40% a week earlier, according to CME Group's FedWatch tool.

DOLLAR EASES BELOW 160 YEN

The Japanese yen rose 0.45% against the greenback to 159.50 per dollar, after weakening to its lowest since July 31. It was right above the psychologically important 160-per-dollar threshold as markets weigh the Bank of Japan's rate path.

BOJ governor Kazuo Ueda said consecutive rate hikes could be a possibility. 

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent voiced strong support for "decisive" monetary steps to combat yen weakness in a meeting with BOJ Governor Kazuo Ueda, the Treasury Department said.

A rare joint intervention by the U.S. and Japan at the end of July provided short-lived relief for the fragile yen, pulling it away from the 40-year low of 163.99, but the currency has since surrendered around half of the gains from the joint action.

"There appears little chance of another round of actual co-ordinated intervention until there is some de-escalation in the Strait of Hormuz that takes heat out of the oil price," said Tony Sycamore, a market analyst at IG, in a note.

The New Zealand dollar slumped 1.01% against the greenback to $0.5844, its lowest point since August 13, even after the country's central bank raised its official cash rate by 25 basis points to 2.75%. Analysts said market participants viewed the decision as less hawkish than expected.

(Reporting by Stefano Rebaudo and Satoshi Sugiyama; Additional reporting by Tom Westbrook; Editing by Jacqueline Wong, Thomas Derpinghaus and Shri Navaratnam)