An upbeat US retail sales data released on Friday pushed the US dollar higher and served to allay market concerns about the state of the US economy. The US dollar index, DXY, is trading near a two-week high on Monday, at around 97.50 at the time of writing.

On Friday, the dollar index touched a high of 97.583 following the release of the retail sales data, a significant change from the 2.5 month low of 96.459 that it touched on the release of US NFP data during the previous week. This week’s focus will remain on the Fed’s policy meeting due on Wednesday.

While markets are not expecting a rate cut to be announced in this meeting, they are waiting for clarity on possible rate cuts in the near future over concerns of weakening inflation and other economic data from the US in recent times.