By Gregor Stuart Hunter SINGAPORE, April 13 (Reuters) - The dollar strengthened to the highest level in a week in a broad rally against most of its peers in early Asian trade on Monday as peace talks
Dollar fades as oil retreats from highs with US blockade in effect
Market Reactions to US Blockade and Oil Price Movements
By Chuck Mikolajczak
NEW YORK, April 13 (Reuters) - The dollar eased from earlier highs on Monday and was on pace for a sixth straight daily decline after peace talks between the U.S. and Iran broke down nL1N40U07M, while the Hungarian forint rallied after the center-right Tisza Party defeated Viktor Orban in a landslide election victory.
Oil Prices and US Military Actions
U.S. crude rose 2.32% to $98.81 a barrel and Brent rose to $98.92 per barrel, up 3.91% on the day nL1N40V07F as the U.S. military began a blockade nL6N40V09S of ships leaving Iran's ports, while Tehran threatened to retaliate against ports of its Gulf neighbors.
Both Brent and U.S. crude had retreated from one-week highs hit earlier in the session, however, and gains in the dollar faded with oil prices.
Dollar Index and Currency Movements
The dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of currencies including the yen and the euro, shed 0.18% to 98.54, with the euro up 0.15% at $1.1737. The greenback is coming off its biggest weekly percentage drop since mid-January and the six-session run of declines would be its longest of the year.
"Given that we could be on the verge of a major escalation, I'd say the market is showing a lot of restraint," said Marc Chandler, chief market strategist at Bannockburn Capital Markets in New York.
The risk-sensitive Australian dollar strengthened 0.44% versus the greenback to $0.7091 and the New Zealand dollar was up 0.53% to $0.5864.
Rising Crude Prices Trigger Economic Concerns
The war in the Middle East https://www.reuters.com/world/iran/ has pushed crude prices up about 40% since the end of February, when the fighting began, heightening concerns about higher inflation and lower global growth, also known as stagflation.
Central Bank Perspectives
Chicago Federal Reserve President Austan Goolsbee said nSPN40W00D oil futures markets are pricing in an expectation the surge in oil prices related to the Iran war will be short-lived, and that as long as this is the case, the impact on the U.S. economy may be limited.
The dollar has tended to climb when tensions between Iran and the U.S. have risen, given its status as a safe haven and the relative insulation of the U.S. to imported energy-price inflation.
Commodity-Linked Currencies
Against the Norwegian krone,, the dollar weakened 0.73% to 9.456 and the Canadian dollar strengthened 0.28% versus the greenback to C$1.379 per dollar, with both currencies sensitive to movements in crude prices.
"Beneath the surface, today’s price action looks less risk-led and more driven by relative terms of trade shifts," said Goldman Sachs analyst Teresa Alves in a note.
Hungarian Forint Rises
The Hungarian forint surged after nL1N40W0F7 veteran nationalist leader Viktor Orban lost power nL1N40V01B to Peter Magyar's Tisza Party in Sunday's national election after 16 years in office.
The currency jumped 3.69% versus the dollar at 308.81 after touching 308.57, its strongest level since February 2022.
"The polls showed Orban was going to lose, that he actually did lose and conceded is a good sign, but this is not like a shift to some kind of left position," said Chandler.
Yen Weakens
Against the yen, the U.S. dollar was up 0.28% to 159.74 as yields nL4N40V03Y on Japan's benchmark 10-year government bonds advanced 3.2 basis points to 2.496%, the highest in nearly three decades.
Bank of Japan nL1N40W05N Governor Kazuo Ueda said on Monday that economic and price developments were moving roughly in line with the bank's forecasts, but called for vigilance over the impact of the conflict in the Middle East.
(Reporting by Chuck Mikolajczak; additional reporting by Gregor Stuart Hunter in Singapore and Samuel Indyk in London; Editing by Kirsten Donovan, Hugh Lawson, Ros Russell, Rod Nickel)
