Dollar rises after US bombs Iran’s nuclear facilities

•Dollar notes

The dollar strengthened today after the United States struck Iran’s nuclear facilities at the weekend.

The dollar rose against other currencies, but analysts raised questions, reports AFP.

“If the increase proves to be just a knee-jerk reaction to what is perceived as short-lived US involvement in the Middle-East conflict, the dollar’s downward path is likely to resume,” said Sebastian Boyd, markets live blog strategist at Bloomberg.

Chris Weston at Pepperstone said Iran would be able to inflict economic damage on the world without taking the “extreme route” of trying to close the Strait of Hormuz.

“By planting enough belief that they could disrupt this key logistical channel, maritime costs could rise to the point that it would have a significant impact on the supply of crude and gas,” he wrote.

At the same time, “while Trump’s primary focus will be on the Middle East, headlines on trade negotiations could soon start to roll in and market anxieties could feasibly build”.

Asian markets mostly fell, although Chinese stocks were higher, as traders waited to see how Tehran could respond.

One option on the table would be to potentially create economic havoc by seeking to close the strategic Strait of Hormuz — which carries one-fifth of global oil output.

Iran is the world’s ninth-biggest oil-producing country, with an output of about 3.3 million barrels per day.

It exports just under half of that amount and consumes the rest.

When trading opened today, Brent and the main US crude contract WTI both jumped more than four per cent, hitting their highest price since January.

They paired these gains, however, and by mid-afternoon in Asia, both were up around 1.1 per cent.

“So far, satellite images reportedly suggest that oil continues to flow through the Strait, which may explain the muted market reaction to the news,” said Ipek Ozkardeskaya, senior analyst at Swissquote Bank.

“Many remain optimistic that Iran will avoid a full-blown retaliation and regional chaos, to prevent its oil facilities from becoming targets and to avoid a widening conflict that could hurt China — its biggest oil customer.”

But “if things get uglier”, the price of US crude could even spike beyond $100 per barrel, she said.

WTI was trading around $75 per barrel today.

‘Extreme Route’

“An oil price shock would create a real negative impact on most Asian economies”, as many are big net energy importers, economists at MUFG warned.

Tokyo closed down 0.1 per cent, while Seoul fell 0.2 per cent, Sydney lost 0.4 per cent, and Jakarta shed 1.7 per cent.

Hong Kong was up 0.6 per cent, however, while Shanghai closed 0.7 per cent higher. London, Frankfurt, and Paris were down in early trade.

Key Figures As At 0700 GMT

Brent North Sea Crude: UP 1.1 per cent at $78.08 per barrel

West Texas Intermediate: UP 1.1 per cent at $74.89 per barrel

Tokyo – Nikkei 225: DOWN 0.1 per cent at 38,354.09 (close)

Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: UP 0.6 per cent at 23,661.88

Shanghai – Composite: UP 0.7 per cent at 3,381.58 (close)