By Wayne ColeSYDNEY (Reuters) - The dollar pushed higher again on Monday in what is shaping up to be a critical week for the prospect of U.S. rate cuts, while drawing verbal support from U.S. President-elect Donald Trump.In a surprise change of tone, Trump on Saturday demanded that BRICS member countries commit to not creating a new currency or supporting another currency that could replace the dollar or face 100% tariffs.That marked a shift from his prior advocacy of a weaker dollar to fight trade wars and the Chinese yuan quickly slipped to a three-month trough at 7.2662 pre dollar, while the Indian rupee hit record lows.Political uncertainty in France added to pressure on the euro which slipped 0.4% to $1.0532, after bouncing 1.5% last week and away from a one-year trough of $1.0425.That saw the dollar index edge up to 106.170, having closed out November with a gain of 1.8% even after a setback last week."Given the continued resilience of the U.S. economy and a worsening outlook elsewhere, we don't think this is the start of a deeper setback for the dollar," said Jonas Goltermann, deputy chief markets economist at Capital Economics."But the bar for a further shift in expected interest rates in favour of the U.S. in the near term is quite high," he added. "A period of consolidation into year-end looks to us like the most likely scenario, although the risks remain skewed in favour of the dollar over the course of 2025."investing.com