TOKYO- The safe-haven dollar retreated from near a two-decade high against major peers on Thursday, tracking an easing in Treasury yields, while US equity futures accelerated gains as investors continued to assess the economic outlook.
The euro clawed its way back from near a two-decade trough, while the commodity-linked Australian dollar surged amid a rebound in copper and crude oil prices.
The dollar index — which measures the currency against six counterparts — slipped 0.22 percent to 106.82, pulling away from the overnight peak at 107.27, a level not seen since late 2002.
The two-year Treasury yield, which bounced from near one-month lows to as high as 3.006 percent overnight, pulled back to 2.9629 percent.
S&P 500 emini futures pointed to a 0.3 percent advance for the US stock index at the open.
The euro rebounded 0.25 percent to $1.01845 after sinking as low as $1.01615 on Wednesday, also for the first time since the end of 2002.
The Aussie leapt 0.55 percent to $0.6820, after sinking to a two-year low of $0.67615 on Wednesday.
Brent crude retook $101 and copper climbed 3 percent.
“Risk sentiment looks to be in reasonable shape in Asia, and US yields have backed off a little bit, so everything sort of fits together for the US dollar to peel back slightly from its highs,” said Ray Attrill, a strategist at National Australia Bank.
“Commodities aren’t in the world of pain that they were at the start of the week, so there’s a positive story for commodity- and pro-cyclical currencies, and an overall softer US dollar is the counterpart to that.”
Investors are weighing the risks of a US recession with the Federal Reserve hiking rates aggressively. – Reuters
