The dollar fell to its lowest level in three weeks today, Tuesday, while the pound sterling reached its highest level in nearly three years and currencies linked to commodities rose, as progress in the anti-Corona virus vaccination campaigns boosted investors’ hopes for a recovery.
The atmosphere of optimism and selling in US Treasury bonds also pushed the Japanese yen down, as the safe-haven currency retreated from its 200-day moving average against the dollar and reached its lowest level in several years against the euro, the Australian dollar and the Swiss franc.
The yen was down 0.2 percent in recent trading, at 105.53 per dollar. The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the US currency against a basket of major currencies, fell 0.1 percent to 90.240, its lowest level since January 27, and the euro reached its highest level since that date.
The dollar traded near important lows against other currencies. The risk-sensitive Australian dollar reached a one-month high of $ 0.7802 and the New Zealand dollar reached a five-week high of $ 0.7257.
The pound, which led the activity, extended its gains, reaching $ 1.3946, the highest level since April 2018, as Britain leads the world in the per capita vaccination rate. The currency gained nearly 3 percent from the lows set in early February.
The euro rose 0.2 percent to $ 1.2150, to re-test the resistance it reached recently at that level. Rising oil prices pushed the Canadian dollar and the Norwegian krone to their highest levels in several weeks.
The high Bitcoin set a new record at $ 49,938, but it appears to be circling in a limited range just below $ 50,000, as profit-taking halted a major rally that has led the cryptocurrency to rise more than 60 percent since the beginning of this year.
The Chinese yuan fell 0.1 percent to 6.4132 per dollar after the Financial Times reported that Beijing was considering imposing restrictions on exports of rare earth minerals with a view to hurting US companies that use them.
The yen also reached its lowest level since late 2018 against the euro and the Australian dollar and reached a five-year low against the Swiss franc at 118.80 yen per franc.
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