NEW YORK/LONDON (Reuters) – The U.S. dollar strengthened as investors sought safe-haven assets after a series of disappointing trade data from China hurt the yuan and Australian and New Zealand currencies, and as currency-sensitive European markets pulled back due to the deteriorating global situation. horizons.
At around 17.25, the dollar index rose 0.6% to 102.654, further away from a one-week low reached on Friday on the back of a mixed US jobs report, which highlighted a weak but still resilient labor market. The dollar posted its best one-day gain in about two weeks.
The offshore yuan hit a five-week low of 7.2514 per dollar, with a recent drop of 0.5% to 7.236. The domestic counterpart fell to a three-week low of 7.2183 per dollar.
The Australian dollar, a measure of risk-sensitive currencies directly affected by the yuan, fell to $0.6497 against the greenback, its lowest since June 1. In the latest trading, it was down 0.9% at $0.6513. The New Zealand dollar fell to $0.6035, its lowest threshold in the past two months, and on the last exchange it lost 1% to $0.6044.
The euro lost 0.5% to $1.0944, and both the risk-sensitive Swedish and Norwegian kroner fell against the dollar.
Against the yen, the dollar rose 0.5% to 143,290 yen.
(Translated by Chiara Scarciglia, Edited by Francesca Pescioneri)
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