By: Barbara
Versus a basket of major currencies, the U.S. Dollar was able to hold on to the sharp gains it made last Friday, as the yields on the 2-year and 10-year U.S. Treasury instruments rose to a 7-month high, encouraging investors to cover their short positions in the greenback.
Earlier last week, as a result of investor profit-taking, the U.S. Dollar took a hard hit versus the Japanese Yen. Some analysts speculate that the increase in U.S. Treasury yields may have an adverse affect on U.S. equities, thus spurring investors to reduce their risk exposure by buying back the U.S. Dollar. The U.S. Dollar Index gained .2%, trading at 80.834 .DXY, following Friday’s gain of 1.6%.
The U.S. Dollar Index is a gauge of the U.S. Dollar’s value versus six major currencies. According to data, Friday’s gain was the best performance of the .DXY since late last year. Versus the Japanese Yen, the U.S. Dollar lost .2% as reported at 3:55 p.m. (JST) in Tokyo, trading at 98.47 Japanese Yen. On Friday, the Dollar hovered near 98.90 Japanese Yen on the EBS trading platform, near a 1-month high.