By Harry Robertson and Tom Westbrook
LONDON/SINGAPORE, Sept 26 (Reuters) - The dollar rose to
a new 10-month peak on Tuesday as U.S. bond yields surged to
their highest level since October 2007, while the Japanese yen
resumed its slide, putting traders on alert for signs of
government intervention.
Federal Reserve policymaker Neel Kashkari said on Monday
that, given the strength of the U.S economy, interest rates
should probably rise again and be held "higher for longer" until
inflation falls back down to 2%.
His comments helped push up the yield on the 10-year U.S.
Treasury - the benchmark U.S. yield that sets the
tone for borrowing costs around the world - to 4.566% on
Tuesday. Bond yields move inversely to prices.
Higher U.S. yields boosted the allure of the greenback,
pushing the dollar index to 106.2, the highest since late
November 2022. The index, which tracks the currency against six
major peers, was last up 0.11% at 106.07.
The euro was last roughly flat against the dollar
at $1.0588, after hitting its lowest since March at $1.057.
"The dollar is just a steamroller, it's absolutely
extraordinary," said Joe Tuckey, head of FX analysis at broker
Argentex.
"It's just exceptionalism in the U.S., it's very hard to
argue with. We're just seeing that consistently strong data
there."
A rally in the dollar did further damage to the Japanese yen
, which fell past the 149 per dollar mark for the first
time since October 2022, hitting 149.19. The dollar was last up
0.12% against the yen at 149.06.
The yen is sliding towards the 150 level that analysts and
traders see as a likely red line for the finance ministry, whose
warnings of possible intervention have stepped up in recent
weeks. Investors have an eye on a Tuesday meeting of political
leaders and Bank of Japan officials.
Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki said on Monday that
authorities will not rule out any options on currencies if
excessive volatility persists, and Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo
Ueda said the central bank will coordinate closely with the
government on FX.
"Intervention risk is still elevated, with our... model
putting the probability at around 20%," Adam Cole, RBC Capital
Markets' chief currency strategist, said in a note to clients.
Elsewhere, the British pound slid to its lowest
level since mid-March at $1.2168 and was last down 0.34% at
$1.2171. It follows the BoE's decision to hold rates at 5.25%
last week and a spate of bad economic data.
Tuesday marks a year since the pound crashed to a record low
of $1.0327 against the dollar after then-Prime Minister Liz
Truss's disastrous budget.
The Swiss franc also fell to its lowest since
March at 0.915 francs to the dollar, having slid since the Swiss
National Bank unexpectedly kept interest rates on hold last
week.
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Currency bid prices at 0759 GMT
Description RIC Last U.S. Close Pct Change YTD Pct High Bid Low Bid
Previous Change
Session
Euro/Dollar
$1.0586 $1.0592 -0.05% -1.20% +1.0596 +1.0570
Dollar/Yen
148.8450 148.8200 +0.02% +13.42% +149.1800 +148.7450
Euro/Yen 157.55 157.71 -0.10% +12.30% +157.8100 +157.3900
Dollar/Swiss
0.9131 0.9120 +0.12% -1.25% +0.9150 +0.9119
Sterling/Dollar
1.2173 1.2213 -0.32% +0.67% +1.2215 +1.2168
Dollar/Canadian
1.3496 1.3455 +0.33% -0.37% +1.3500 +1.3449
Aussie/Dollar
0.6403 0.6423 -0.30% -6.05% +0.6430 +0.6388
NZ
Dollar/Dollar 0.5951 0.5968 -0.28% -6.28% +0.5973 +0.5936
All spots
Tokyo spots
Europe spots
Volatilities
Tokyo Forex market info from BOJ
(Reporting by Harry Robertson in London and Tom Westbrook in
Singapore; Editing by Jamie Freed, Kim Coghill and Alexander
Smith)