TOKYO, Feb 24 ― The euro weakened and safe-haven currencies including the US dollar were in demand today amid intensifying fears of an imminent full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The greenback, yen and Swiss franc all rose back toward multi-week highs to Europe's single currency, while the greenback hovered near a one-week peak versus major peers after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said he believes Russia will invade Ukraine within hours.
Riskier commodity-linked currencies also tumbled, succumbing to worsening risk sentiment after earlier in the week proving resilient due to high commodity prices.
Ukraine has declared a state of emergency and Moscow began evacuating its Kyiv embassy, while the West slapped Russia with sanctions.
The euro fell as much as 0.26 per cent to US$1.12750 (RM4.73), the lowest level since February 3.
It declined 0.29 per cent to ¥129.640, approaching Tuesday's low of 129.360, its weakest since February 3. It slipped 0.22 per cent to 1.03550 franc, closing in on Tuesday's trough at 1.03405, which was the lowest since January 24.
The US dollar index ― which gauges the currency against six major peers, including the euro, yen and Swiss franc ― rose as much as 0.19 per cent to 96.372 for the first time since February 14.
“We're definitely seeing a knee-jerk reaction to Blinken's comments,” with haven currencies in demand and the euro and commodity currencies sold off, said Joseph Capurso, a strategist at Commonwealth Bank of Australia.
“The situation certainly looks like it's going to get worse before it gets better.”
The Australian dollar dropped 0.33 per cent to US$0.72075 and the New Zealand dollar slid 0.41 per cent to US$0.67475.
Sterling lost 0.08 per cent to US$1.35340. ― Reuters
