The dollar index fell 0.06 per cent to 109.53 after rising as high as 110.27 on Monday
The dollar took a breather on Tuesday after a sweeping rally, easing slightly from milestone highs on the euro, yen and sterling, but not too far as recession stalks Europe and U.S. interest rates are poised for sharp rises.
The euro was up 0.3 per cent to $0.99545 in Asia trade after it hit a two-decade low of $0.9876 on Monday as the prospects for a winter without Russian gas sunk in.
Overnight trade was thinned by a holiday in the United States and on Tuesday the highlight of the Asia session will be a central bank meeting in Australia, where markets have priced about a 64 per cent chance of a 50 basis point rate hike.
Russia has halted gas flow along the Nord Stream 1 pipeline to Germany indefinitely, at first blaming an oil leak at a compressor station but on Monday linking the stoppage to sanctions imposed by the west.
Gazprom’s Deputy Chief Executive Officer Vitaly Markelov told Reuters on Tuesday that the pipeline will not resume shipments until Siemens Energy repairs faulty equipment.
Sterling was last up 0.48 per cent to $1.1578, after sliding to a 2-1/2-year low of $1.1444 on Monday.
Existential choices now need to be made, because there may not be enough energy to go round, said Michael Every, global strategist at Rabobank. The choices are obviously unappetising.
The dollar index fell 0.06 per cent to 109.53 after rising as high as 110.27 on Monday. The yen, which has tumbled as U.S. rate hikes gather pace and widen the gap on anchored Japanese interest rates, last traded at 140.51 per dollar, not far from a 24-year trough of 140.80 hit last week.
