TOKYO : The safe-haven U.S. dollar firmed in volatile trading on Wednesday as markets took stock of geopolitical risks following news of a Russian-made rocket striking NATO-member Poland.
Russia denied it was responsible for the explosion but the report sparked turbulent trading overnight as fears of the war in Ukraine spilling over to its neighbors rattled investors. "The market is trying to size up the risk and what that really means," said Moh Siong Sim, currency strategist at Bank of Singapore."Is that something that is going to lead to further tension or perhaps this is something that will deescalate over the next few days."The turbulent trading saw major currencies swing between gains and losses, with the U.S. dollar index, which measures the currency against six peers and weights the euro most heavily, rising as much as 0.
Sterling was last trading at $1.1873, up 0.13 per cent after reversing its losses from earlier in the day. The Japanese yen weakened 0.38 per cent versus the greenback to 139.82 per dollar.