Fears of a global recession sent the safe-haven Japanese yen and US dollar higher against the pound, while the risk-sensitive Australian dollar fell to a two-year low.
The yen rose to 135.105 against the dollar, moving away from its mid-week low of 137, which was its weakest level in 24 years.
The dollar index, which measures the performance of the US currency against six of its peers, including the yen, the euro and the pound sterling, rose 0.18 percent to 104.85. The euro fell 0.31 percent to $1.0449, and the pound sterling fell 0.53 percent to $1.21145.
The Australian dollar fell 1.12 percent to $0.6826 and touched $0.6822, a level not seen since June 2020. Its New Zealand counterpart fell 1.15 percent to $0.6175 for the first time since May 2020.
“Dollar sentiment is deteriorating amid rising recession fears,” wrote strategic analysts at RBC Capital Markets in a note to clients.
They added that the odds of the United States sliding into recession without dragging the rest of the world with it are very low. They added that the dollar and other safe haven currencies such as the yen and Swiss franc would benefit at the expense of commodity-linked currencies and the British pound during the global downturn.
The dollar index is heading for a gain of 0.75 percent, while it will be its best week in four weeks.
As for the euro, it is heading towards recording a weekly decline of 0.94 percent, after touching the lowest level in two weeks at $1.0381 yesterday, Thursday, as investors see that the economic predicament in Europe is more dangerous than it is in the United States, where it was exacerbated by the energy crisis fueled by the war. in Ukraine.
The British pound has fallen 1.21 percent this week, while the Australian dollar has fallen 1.66% since last Friday.
