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LONDON. – The dollar climbed against a swathe of currencies yesterday amid fiscal year-end demand by Japanese firms while the Australian dollar slipped despite a Chinese survey showing manufacturing returned to growth in March.
Yesterday was the last trading day of Japan’s fiscal year and the end of the quarter for major investors elsewhere, which has fuelled some volatility as big currency market players closed their books.
The bulk of those positioning changes caused the dollar to strengthen.
“The talk is Japanese names are short of dollars, which is likely to keep the dollar bid well into London time,” said Yukio Ishizuki, FX strategist at Daiwa Securities in Tokyo.
With news on the coronavirus front decidedly mixed as Italy reported its slowest rate of new confirmed cases in two weeks while the number of daily deaths in Spain jumped, investors resumed purchasing the dollar.
Against a basket of six other currencies =USD, the dollar rose 0,7 percent to 99,88. – Reuters.
Peter Tanyanyiwa
Online Reporter