FOREX-Dollar holds gains ahead of Powell, Swiss franc falls to 5-month low

* Powell ‘s comments were pending

* Swiss franc, hit yen multi-month low

* Aussie, Kiwi, win

* Graphic: Global FX Ratings https://tmsnrt.rs/2RBWI5E

Le Ritvik Carvalho

LONDON, March 4, (Reuters) – The dollar hit a seven-month high against the yen on Thursday as a more orderly rise in U.S. Treasury yield yields on loan support ahead of a speech by Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell that could be confirm the trend for global bond markets and currencies.

The dollar also hit a 5-month high against the Swiss franc and rallied to gains against most currencies as a renewed sentiment in the Financial market as a basis for sentiment.

However, the greenback lost ground against its peers in Australia and New Zealand as traders expecting stronger global growth maintained stocks on commodity currencies.

Investors want to see if Powell expresses concern about recent volatile sales in Finance and whether there is any change in his assessment of the economy ahead of the next Fed meeting ending March 17 .

The dollar may extend gains against the yen as Treasury yields rise at a measured pace, but the greenback is likely to fall against major commodity export currencies. as more signs signal a reversal in global growth.

“There may be comments that he (Powell) is monitoring events in the Treasury market enough to settle matters, encourage a return to high FX yields and a softer dollar but that would be no concern. suggests that the Fed is pleased that U.S. Treasury results will ‘find the right level’ – as our bond strategy colleagues say – which could spur another spike in U.S. yields and more dollar short cover, “ING said in a note to clients.

The dollar rose to 107.28 yen, the highest level since July last year.

The US currency bought 0.92090 Swiss francs during early contracts in London, the highest level against safe havens since October 2.

The British pound rose at $ 1.3942, while the euro traded at $ 1.2043, down 0.15% on the day.

The Treasury’s 10-year benchmark yield fell to 1.4533%, after rising earlier to 1.4910%.

Chaotic sales in Finance since the beginning of the year came amid concerns that major government spending to support the global economy could rise in inflation and 10-year output rose to a high of 1.6140% last week.

The move was so rapid that global stock markets fell and the dollar defied most frontier currencies, but the greenback has since recovered as a chaotic sell-off. of Finance, for now at least.

The dollar index was at 91.120 against a basket of six major currencies, continuing to gain 0.32% from Wednesday.

The Australian dollar, which is often traded as a surrogate for global growth as it is closely linked to commodities, recovered from an early loss and rose to $ 0.7802, up 0.35% on the day.

The New Zealand dollar, another sharp-commodity commodity currency, was also down 0.3% to $ 0.7268.

Traders said the Aussie and the kiwi are likely to continue to rise as both economies recover strongly from the COVID-19 pandemic and both will benefit from an acceleration in global trade.

In the cryptocurrency market, bitcoin gained 0.2% to $ 50,468, while competing digital currency ether gained 0.85% to $ 1,581.

Bitcoin has risen 78% so far this year as it gains more acceptance in the financial services industry, but the U.S. financial regulator is likely to start working on guidelines for digital assets, which could increase scrutiny of cryptocurrencies.

(Reporting by Ritvik Carvalho; additional statement by Stanley White in Tokyo; Editing by Giles Elgood)

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