The dollar edged higher on Monday, pulling away from last week’s lows against its major rivals after North Korea marked the anniversary of its founding without resorting to any further missile or nuclear tests.
Instead North Korea observed the 69th anniversary of its founding on Saturday with a celebration honouring the scientists behind the massive nuclear test it conducted last week, reports Reuters.
The dollar added 0.5 per cent against its perceived safe-haven Japanese counterpart to 108.42 yen, moving away from a 10-month nadir of 107.32 yen touched on Friday.
The yen tends to benefit during times of economic and political uncertainty due to Japan’s net creditor nation status.
The dollar index, which tracks the US unit against a basket of six major currencies, was 0.2 per cent higher at 91.522, after skidding to a 2-1/2 year low of 91.011 on Friday.
The euro was down 0.2 per cent at $1.2013, after it rose as high as $1.2092 on Friday, its loftiest since January 2015.
The dollar also rose against the Chinese yuan, which pulled away from a 21-month high set on Friday.
The yuan has gained 6.8 per cent so far this year, having more than made up the nearly 6.6 per cent drop it suffered in 2016.
