LONDON (Reuters) – The US dollar and the Japanese yen maintained their strength in early trading in London on Wednesday after oil prices recovered from a fresh slump to keep demand for safe-haven currencies strong even as markets began to stabilize.
The dollar stabilized little changed against a basket of currencies, but it remains high about 0.5 percent since the beginning of this week, with investors looking for a safe haven amid turmoil in the markets.
The Japanese yen maintained the gains made last week against the dollar, up about 0.2 percent.
And oil prices fell again in trading on Tuesday night, and Brent crude fell to its lowest level since 1999 amid a collapse in demand for everything from gasoline to jet fuel due to the outbreak of the Corona virus and the isolation measures that were applied to contain it
US crude futures were turned negative for the first time in history on Monday, and traders desperate for cash paid off oil.
The euro remained in a narrow range ahead of a European Union meeting on Thursday to discuss financial aid in the euro area. And recorded in the latest transactions 1.08665 dollars.
The Australian dollar rose 0.8 percent after a record rise in retail sales last month due to purchases as a result of the panic.
The US recovery recovered from the negative range, but at $ 11 a barrel, it is about 80 percent below January’s peak