NEW YORK: The dollar rose sharply from two straight sessions of losses on Thursday after US President Donald Trump’s speech on Iran undermined market expectations of a swift end to the conflict, renewing a bid for safe-haven assets.
Trump vowed more aggressive strikes on Iran in the next two to three weeks during his televised speech on Wednesday, offering no concrete timeline to open the Strait of Hormuz or end a war that has rattled investors and roiled markets.
Iran’s military responded with a warning for the US and Israel of “more crushing, broader and more destructive” attacks in store.
The US dollar rose, even against other safe-haven currencies including the Swiss franc and the Japanese yen.
The dollar strengthened 0.67 percent to 0.8 against the Swiss franc.
Against the Japanese yen, the dollar was up 0.32 percent at 159.29, nearing the psychologically important 160 level that sparks investor worries of intervention by Japanese authorities.
“In the last couple of days there was a bit of optimism that the war was going to end soon and President Trump’s address to the nation yesterday sort of undermined that hope,” said Marc Chandler, chief market strategist at Bannockburn Global Forex in New York.
“There’s nothing new that he said; it’s just that he didn’t provide any kind of morsels to feed the hope. I think this is the only fundamental right now that matters. If you think the war is going to end soon, you buy risk. If you think that it’s not going to end soon, you sell risk.”
The euro fell 0.38 percent to USD1.155150 while sterling slid 0.50 percent to USD1.32410, with both giving up some recent gains.
The dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of currencies, climbed 0.35 percent to 99.92.
Brent crude futures rose almost 5.4 percent to USD106.66 per barrel, after Trump’s address sparked fresh concerns about sustained disruption.
Trump’s comments had initially sent US Treasury yields higher but they have since pared those gains. The yield on benchmark US 10-year notes fell 2.2 basis points to 4.297 percent.
Investors are also eyeing Friday’s US non-farm payrolls report for economic signals and a possible path to Federal Reserve interest rates. The market is looking for a 60,000 rise in jobs for March, according to the median estimate of economists polled by Reuters.
The Australian dollar
weakened 0.19 percent versus the greenback to USD0.6912. The euro strengthened 0.27 percent against the Swiss franc to 0.923.
In cryptocurrencies, bitcoin fell 1.86 percent to USD66,907.41. Ethereum declined 3.65 percent to USD2,065.24.
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