The dollar held steady, and fears of a banking crisis rattled investors

The dollar was strong on Monday, while the yen hovered near a seven-week high as investors evaluated the actions taken by authorities and regulators to contain concerns about the global banking system.

The U.S. dollar index, which measures currency pairs against six rivals, rose 0.078 percent to 103.060, up 0.5 percent on Friday amid banking jitters, with shares of Deutsche Bank (ETR: DBKGn) slipping nearly 9 percent.

After the sudden collapse of two US lenders and the rescue of troubled Swiss bank Credit Suisse last week, global banking stocks took a beating throughout the month as authorities stepped in to ease investor nerves.

The US banking system is "sound and resilient" despite pressure on some institutions, the Financial Stability Oversight Council said on Friday, but investors remain wary.

Marc Chandler, chief market strategist at Bannockburn Global Forex, said: "So far, pragmatic actions by central banks, governments, and the private sector have not been enough to convince investors that the issue has been delineated."

Risk-worried investors pushed the yen to a seven-week high of 129.65 per dollar on Friday. It was last seen at 130.70 on Monday.

The Federal Reserve raised interest rates by 25 basis points as scheduled on Wednesday, but with turmoil in the banking sector, Chairperson Jerome Powell took a cautious stance on the outlook even as he left the door open to further rate hikes if necessary.

According to the CME FedWatch tool, the market has an 87% chance that the Federal Reserve will leave interest rates unchanged at its next meeting in May and expects a rate cut as early as July.

"Contrary to the clear signals from Powell, Fed funds futures are pricing in significant easing in the coming months," Chandler said. "This is extremely aggressive and stretches people's imaginations."

Minneapolis Federal Reserve President Neel Kashkari said Sunday that recent stress in the banking sector and the possibility of a subsequent credit crunch have brought the United States closer to recession.

"What is not clear to us is the extent to which these strains in the banking sector have led to a widespread credit crunch. This credit crunch... will slow the economy," Kashkari said in comments to CCBS's Face the Nation. "This is something we are monitoring very, very closely."

Meanwhile, the euro rose 0.03% to $1.0762, down 0.6% on Friday. The pound was at $1.2236, up 0.06% on the day and down 0.5% on Friday.

The Australian dollar rose 0.03% to $0.665 in green trading. Kiwis were flat at $0.620.

In terms of cryptocurrencies, Bitcoin finally gained 0.92% to $27,883.00. Ethereum finally gained 1.05% to $1,769.40.