TOKYO- The euro rebounded from a 2-1/2-week low against the US dollar on Monday and sterling also advanced with Europe taking the lead in a renewed push for peace in Ukraine.
The Canadian dollar and Mexico peso rose after US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick suggested tariffs set to take effect on Tuesday may not be the full 25 percent.
Bitcoin surged back to the cusp of $95,000 as US President Donald Trump, in a social media post, named the token as among those to be included in a new strategic cryptocurrency reserve.
The euro climbed 0.4 percent to $1.0417 as of the Asian afternoon, pulling away from Friday’s low of $1.0360, which it had hit after Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy clashed in an extraordinary meeting at the Oval Office.
However, Zelenskiy received a warm welcome in Britain immediately afterwards, and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said on Sunday that European leaders had agreed to draw up a peace plan to present to Washington.
Sterling gained 0.2 percent to $1.2604.
“European momentum towards a Ukraine deal” is providing the euro with a lift, said Tapas Strickland, head of market economics at National Australia Bank.
Meanwhile, the Aussie and New Zealand dollars, which Strickland called “the whipping boys for global risk”, are bouncing off one-month lows.
The Aussie rose 0.2 percent to $0.6219, while New Zealand’s kiwi added 0.1 percent to $0.5602.
The yen edged up 0.1 percent to 150.46 per dollar
The Canadian dollar and Mexican peso each gained about 0.2 percent to be at C$1.4443 and 20.49 pesos per US dollar.
Lutnick said on the Fox News program “Sunday Morning Futures” that negotiations with Canada and Mexico are in a “fluid situation”, in the first indication from Trump’s administration that it may not impose the full threatened 25 percent tariffs.
