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This image depicts euro, Hong Kong dollar, US dollar, Japanese yen, pound, and Chinese 100 yuan banknotes on January 21, 2016. REUTERS/Jason Lee/File Photo/Illustration (Reuters) – TOKYO, July 9 (Reuters) – On Friday, the safe-haven yen and Swiss franc held their ground, while riskier currencies such as the Australian and New Zealand dollars fell to new multi-month lows as investors grew wary of the global economic recovery. Bonds have risen, while stocks have fallen around the world, amid mounting fears that the fast-spreading Delta version of COVID-19 will derail a recovery that is already exhibiting signs of weakness. Overnight, the benchmark US Treasury yield fell to 1.25 percent, a nearly five-month low, before rising to 1.3433 percent in Asia. Just two weeks earlier, it was as high as 1.5440 percent. The dollar has been under pressure as yields have fallen. The dollar index recovered some of its 0.36 percent loss on Thursday, rebounding less than 0.1 percent to 92.454. It reached a three-month high of 92.844 on Wednesday. The euro maintained most of its overnight gain of 0.45 percent, dropping less than 0.1 percent to $1.18355. The yen was trading at 109.915 per dollar, down 0.15 percent from its previous session’s 0.8 percent gain. In a client note, Rodrigo Catril, a strategist at National Australia Bank, said, “There is undoubtedly a wind of change in markets,” with concerns about inflation now moving to concerns about growth. “There hasn’t been a single driver for a change in mindset; rather, it appears to be a cascade of events,” he said, citing the rapid spread of the Delta variant and fears that central bank tightening could stifle the recovery. According to data released on Thursday, the number of Americans submitting new jobless claims increased unexpectedly last week, indicating that the labor market’s recovery from the COVID-19 outbreak is still turbulent. find out more The Swiss franc maintained its gains from Thursday, when it jumped more than 1% to 0.91525 per dollar. The Australian dollar fell further 0.2 percent to $0.74175 after hitting a new low for the year at $0.7410. On Thursday, it lost 0.7 percent of its value. The kiwi fell 0.1 percent to $0.69365, dipping as low as $0.6923, matching its lowest level since November. In the previous session, it had dropped more than 1%. In a research report, Commonwealth Bank of Australia strategist Joseph Capurso stated of the Antipodean currencies, “The longer the reconsideration of a global recovery continues, the more these currencies will fall.” “Our updated predictions expect deterioration in these currencies for the rest of the year,” he said, citing the Australian dollar’s drop to $0.72 and the New Zealand dollar’s drop to $0.6650, “but the risk is both currencies dip modestly below our advice.” ======================================================== At 0446 GMT, currency bid prices were as follows: Each and every location Locations in Tokyo Locations in Europe Volatilities BOJ provides information on the Tokyo foreign exchange market. Kevin Buckland contributed reporting, and Shri Navaratnam edited the piece. The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles are our standards./nRead More

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