By Alun John
HONG KONG, Feb 21 (Reuters) – The euro rallied on Monday, taking coronary heart from information of a doable assembly between U.S. President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin to debate the disaster in Ukraine.
Many particulars stay unclear however the workplace of French President Emmanuel Macron mentioned the 2 leaders had agreed in precept to a summit on “safety and strategic stability in Europe.”
The White Home mentioned in an announcement that Biden had accepted the assembly “in precept” however solely “if an invasion hasn’t occurred.”
The euro climbed 0.35% greater to $1.1362 after it misplaced some floor in early commerce. The chance-friendly Australian greenback gained 0.55%.
“Russia-Ukraine tensions are beginning to dominate danger sentiment and worth motion. The market is more likely to hold chasing headlines with none readability on the eventual final result,” mentioned analysts at Barclays in a be aware.
The yen in distinction gave up most of its early positive aspects to commerce at 114.97 yen per greenback. Just like the Swiss franc, the safe-haven Japanese foreign money has benefited from the tensions spurred by Russia’s navy build-up on Ukraine’s borders.
Sterling gained 0.19% to $1.3623 forward of the discharge of PMI knowledge which is able to give a sign of the impression of the Omicron pressure of COVID-19 on the British economic system.
The greenback index, which measures the dollar in opposition to six friends, fell 0.28%.
Forex markets contributors are additionally centered on central financial institution coverage, searching for clues on the velocity and dimension of rate of interest hikes in main markets.
Markets might be intently watching remarks from U.S. Federal Reserve coverage makers this week for any trace that an anticipated fee hike on the Fed’s March assembly may veer extra in the direction of to 50 foundation factors as a substitute of the present consensus for a 25 foundation level enhance.
Public remarks are additionally due from a number of BOE coverage makers.
Bitcoin BTC=BTSP> recovered a little bit from a gentle bruising over the weekend. The world’s largest cryptocurrency was up 2.3% at round $39,000.
Early on Monday it touched a two-week low of $38,210.
(Reporting by Alun John; Modifying by Stephen Coates and Edwina Gibbs)
