The U.S. dollar held near two-week highs against a basket of major currenciesearly on Thursday, after rallying overnight even as U.S. Treasury yields fell further.
Traders said the move was a bit of a puzzle but pointed to heightened tensions in Ukraine and an unexpectedly upbeat report on U.S. new home sales as supporting the greenback.
The dollar index .DXY climbed 0.4 percent, its biggest one-day rise in about a month, to as high as 80.524. It has since retreated slightly to 80.415.
The greenback drifted up to 102.40 yen, but remained well within its previous session's range of 102.01/102.63, while the euro traded at $1.3683, near a two-week trough of $1.3661 plumbed overnight.
Underpinning the dollar, emerging market currencies came under renewed pressure led by a fall in Ukraine's hryvnia after the central bank abandoned a managed exchange rate policy in favor of a flexible currency.
But Barclays Capital analyst, Eldar Vakhitov, viewed that as a positive move.
"We see the abandonment of the peg as positive news because allowing for greater exchange rate flexibility has been one of the requirements outlined by the IMF," Vakhitov wrote in a note to clients.
Source: Reuters
