The dollar edged higher on Tuesday and major currencies traded sideways as lingering concerns over tensions in the Middle East partially offset investors’ optimism for imminent U.S. interest rate cuts.
Geopolitical risks kept early currency moves subdued, though fears of an escalating conflict following Israel and Hezbollah’s major missile exchange over the weekend petered out.
The yen was last 0.2% lower at 144.82 per dollar, giving up some of its safe haven gains from the previous session which saw it rise to a three-week high of 143.45 per dollar.
The euro and sterling dipped slightly to $1.1161 and $1.3182, respectively, though both weren’t far from their recent multi-month highs.
The Canadian dollar was little changed at 1.3487 per U.S. dollar, having scaled a five-month peak overnight as oil prices surged.
Still, major currencies were holding near milestone highs and the dollar near its lowest level in over a year, helped by the likelihood of a U.S. rate cut in September after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell more or less nodded to such a move in his Jackson Hole speech on Friday.
Against a basket of currencies, the greenback was last 0.05% higher at 100.90, languishing near a 13-month low of 100.53 hit in the previous session.
Elsewhere, the Australian dollar eased 0.05% to $0.6768, though remained not far from a one-month high of $0.67985 hit on Friday.
The New Zealand dollar edged 0.08% lower to $0.6199, but similarly strayed not too far from Friday’s high of $0.6236, its strongest level in over seven months.
Source : Reuters
