Muscat: The dollar maintained its strength against most major currencies today, as renewed tensions in the Middle East revived demand for safe-haven assets, while rising oil prices reinforced expectations of further interest rate hikes, keeping the yen under sustained pressure. The dollar traded at 162.41 yen, hovering near its strongest level since the beginning of July. The euro and sterling showed little change, fetching USD 1.1426 and USD 1.3392, respectively.
According to Oman News Agency, the New Zealand dollar remained in strong demand following a rate hike the previous day, extending its gains by 0.5 percent to USD 0.5725. The Australian dollar edged up 0.1 percent to USD 0.6936. The dollar index, which measures the US currency against a basket of six major peers, remained largely unchanged, holding steady at 100.96.
The yen continues to struggle in its bid to regain ground, having touched 162.71 against the dollar-near its lowest levels in four decades-thereby erasing most of last week's sharp and largely unexplained rally.