US dollar, yen outperform amid poor global economic data

• The yen rose to a seven-week high against the dollar and a 3-1/2-peak versus the euro.
• The dollar rose to its highest in more than a week against a basket of major currencies.

NEW YORK: The safe-haven yen and dollar rose on Wednesday, as investors sought refuge in these currencies in the wake of dire global economic numbers.

The yen rose to a seven-week high against the dollar and a 3-1/2-peak versus the euro.

The dollar rose to its highest in more than a week against a basket of major currencies.

Manufacturing data in the euro zone and the UK painted a bleak picture, undermining the single European currency and sterling.

US private payrolls data also showed a record of more than 20 million jobs lost in April as shown the ADP National Employment Report, but the dollar held gains.

"We had some weak data out of Europe and the UK manufacturing data was also pretty poor, similar to the US numbers," said Shaun Osborne, chief FX strategist, at Scotiabank in Toronto.

"It's no surprise that these numbers are terribly weak. The ADP number was terrible and we kind of went 'yawn'. But it's a staggering number. I think we're being conditioned to logically expect these types of numbers."

In Europe, euro zone business activity almost ground to a halt last month as government-imposed lockdowns to stop the spread of the coronavirus forced factories, shops and restaurants to close and recreation to cease, a survey showed.

Retail sales in the euro zone also suffered their largest decline on record in March.

In the UK, British construction suffered its sharpest decline on record, more than twice as large as the previous month, even though general construction work was not ordered by the government to stop as part of the lockdown intended to limit the spread of the coronavirus.

In late morning trading, the dollar index rose 0.3% to 100.100, climbing earlier to a more than one-week high of 100.200.

Against the yen, the dollar fell 0.4% to 106.11 yen, after dropping to a seven-week low of 106.06 yen.

The euro was down 0.3% against the dollar at 1.0802, hitting a nearly two-week low. It resumed its decline after a court decision challenged German participation in the euro zone's stimulus programme.

Germany's highest court on Tuesday gave the European Central Bank three months to justify purchases under its bond-buying programme, or lose the Bundesbank's participation in one of its main stimulus schemes.

The ECB is expected to be able to justify its bond purchases, so the German court decision is unlikely to derail the euro zone's stimulus efforts. But the uncertainty is only the latest strain on Europe's coronavirus response and undermines the euro zone project and the euro.

The fact that speculators are now long the euro also undermines its current levels, analysts said. Leveraged funds have trimmed their long positions on the euro, but the number of longs is still close to their two-year highs.