By Gregor Stuart Hunter
SINGAPORE, July 20 (Reuters) – The dollar pulled back in Asian trading on Monday as investor confidence recovered, snapping a three-day winning streak that began after the conflict in the Middle East escalated last week and lowered risk appetite.
The dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, was down 0.1% at 100.69 after three consecutive days of gains against most of its global peers.
The euro was up 0.1% at $1.1444 ahead of the European Central Bank’s meeting later this week, while the British pound nudged 0.1% higher to $1.3463 as Andy Burnham prepares to replace Keir Starmer as prime minister.
Against the yen, the U.S. dollar was flat at 162.335 yen in thin liquidity as Japan observed the Marine Day holiday. The Australian dollar climbed 0.2% to $0.6996, while the New Zealand dollar advanced 0.3% to $0.5858.
“Buyers are coming in and supporting some of the riskier currencies,” said Fabien Yip, market analyst at IG in Sydney. “We’re seeing a bit of a rebound in the riskier currencies like the Aussie, while sterling has also strengthened a little bit,” she said. “It’s not so much the dollar weakening, as support for other currencies.”
Brent crude futures jumped 2.6% to $90.37 a barrel after the U.S. said on Sunday it had begun a ninth straight night of attacks against Iran after earlier announcing that at least two U.S. military personnel were killed in Jordan.
Against the Chinese yuan, the U.S. dollar was down 0.1% at 6.772 yuan in offshore trade after China kept its benchmark lending rates unchanged for a 14th consecutive month on Monday, in line with market expectations.
Markets continue to anticipate no change to rates at the Federal Reserve’s next meeting on July 29, with Fed funds futures pricing an implied 85.6% probability of a hold, compared to a 61.5% chance a month ago, according to the CME Group’s FedWatch tool.
Cleveland Fed President Beth Hammack on Friday added her voice to a growing chorus of policymakers arguing interest rates may need to rise to beat back persistent inflation, setting up a charged debate at the Fed’s next meeting and the possibility of dissents at Chair Kevin Warsh’s second meeting at the helm.
In cryptocurrencies, bitcoin was up 0.2% at $64,637.89, while ether was 0.4% higher at $1,872.71.
(Reporting by Gregor Stuart Hunter; Editing by Jamie Freed)
