US dollar lifted by safe-haven bids as MidEast conflict escalates
FILE PHOTO: U.S. Dollar banknotes are seen in this illustration taken July 17, 2022. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
NEW YORK :The U.S. dollar advanced against major currencies, including the euro and yen, on Friday as markets grabbed safe-haven assets as geopolitical tensions in the Middle East following an Israeli attack on Iran.
Israel launched a barrage of strikes across Iran on Friday, attacking nuclear facilities and missile factories and killing a swath of military commanders. In retaliation, Iran's state news agency IRNA said hundreds of ballistic missiles had been launched.
U.S. President Donald Trump, Israel's main ally, urged Iran to reach a deal on its nuclear program, suggesting that Tehran had brought the attack on itself by resisting a U.S. ultimatum in talks to restrict its uranium enrichment.
In afternoon trading, the dollar gained 0.3 per cent to 143.88 against the Japanese yen and rose 0.1 per cent to 0.8110 franc against the Swiss currency, with the greenback on track to snap two straight sessions of losses against safe-haven currencies.
"Historically speaking with these kinds of geopolitical events, you get the knee jerk reaction from the market ... History tells us to kind of look past a lot of this stuff," said Jack Janasiewicz, portfolio manager, at Natixis Investment Managers in Boston.
"There's a couple of things worth highlighting. How long does this operation go for? The longer this goes, obviously the worse it gets for confidence and that eventually will start to weigh on the market."
The dollar is still poised for a weekly loss against both the yen and the franc, with markets worried about Trump's tariffs. The greenback was down nearly 1 per cent versus the yen, on track for its largest weekly fall since mid-May.
Against the Swiss franc, the dollar fell for a second straight week.
"This (Israel-Iran conflict) just landed on us but the main concern remains tariffs and obstacles to global trade," said Juan Perez, director of trading at Monex USA in Washington.
"When you actually have a physical situation and potential for armed conflict to be prolonged and to escalate, the U.S. dollar and gold jump into safe-haven assets. It's a bit of a psychological reaction."Â
The euro meanwhile, was down 0.4 per cent at $1.1539, on track to snap four straight sessions of gains. It was on pace, however, for a second consecutive weekly rise against the dollar.
The dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of currencies including the yen and the euro, climbed 0.5 per cent to 98.2, snapping two straight sessions of losses. It is still set for a second consecutive week of losses.Â
Gold prices jumped amid safe-haven demand. Spot gold rose 1.6 per cent to $3,437.21 an ounce. Oil prices jumped to multi-month highs, buoyed by the Israeli-Iran conflict. U.S. crude futures surged more than 8 per cent to $73.76 per barrel.
Amid the Middle East conflict, investors largely ignored data which showed U.S. consumer sentiment improved for the first time in six months in June. The University of Michigan Surveys of Consumers on Friday said its Consumer Sentiment Index jumped to 60.5 this month, exceeding a Reuters poll of economist expectations.
"It's difficult to fix every single item that we are facing this year that has crushed the market's ability to believe in the U.S. dollar," Monex's Perez said.
"But at the same time, when it comes to the military and physical aggression or armed conflict, it seems like globally there's still a consensus that you should jump towards historically the safest assets, which is the U.S. dollar as a currency and gold as a commodity to hold on to."
Currency bid prices at 13 June​ 07:12 p.m. GMT       Â
Description RIC Last U.S. Close Previous Session Pct Change YTD Pct High Bid Low Bid
Dollar index 98.172 97.679 0.52 per cent -9.51 per cent 98.587 97.612
Euro/Dollar 1.154 1.1586 -0.41 per cent 11.45 per cent $1.1613 $1.1489
Dollar/Yen 143.93 143.595 0.27 per cent -8.5 per cent 144.44 142.795
Euro/Yen 166.12​ 166.19 -0.04 per cent 1.78 per cent 166.59 164.95
Dollar/Swiss 0.8115 0.8102 0.17 per cent -10.57 per cent 0.8147 0.8056
Sterling/Dollar 1.3564 1.3615 -0.37 per cent 8.46 per cent $1.3633 $1.3518​
Dollar/Canadian 1.3593 1.3605 -0.09 per cent -5.48 per cent 1.3653 1.3568
Aussie/Dollar 0.649 0.6532 -0.63 per cent 4.9 per cent $0.6534 $0.6457
Euro/Swiss 0.9365 0.9384 -0.2 per cent -0.32 per cent 0.9392 0.9308
Euro/Sterling 0.8505 0.8506 -0.01 per cent 2.8 per cent 0.8531 0.8494
NZ Dollar/Dollar 0.6018 0.6069 -0.86 per cent 7.53 per cent $0.6068 0.5996
Dollar/Norway 9.9007​ 9.9347 -0.34 per cent -12.89 per cent 10.0007 9.8937
Euro/Norway 11.4272 11.5115 -0.73 per cent -2.9 per cent 11.537 11.4265
Dollar/Sweden 9.4925 9.4451 0.5 per cent -13.84 per cent 9.5617 9.4254
Euro/Sweden 10.9544 10.9385 0.15 per cent -4.47 per cent 10.9891 10.929
