* Dollar advanced overnight, equities declines
* Japan sees thin holiday trade
The US Dollar maintained gains through the Asian session on Tuesday as fears over rising covid infections and a lack of US stimulus saw most other assets and currencies fall lower.
USD gained +0.6% versus EUR, +0.9% versus AUD and even advanced versus safe-haven currencies such as the Japanese yen and Swiss franc.
The US Dollar Index (DXY), which measure the greenback versus six major peers, hit a 6 week high, holding just below that in early Asian trade at 93.547.
Gold declined on US Dollar strength.
Financials underperformed following another suspicious transaction banking scandal. However the selloff spread to other sectors as concerns over tightening lockdowns as COVID-19 cases spread.
Furthermore, investors are concerned that the window of opportunity for additional US fiscal stimulus is closing as Presidential election campaigning starts to take over. Some analysts believed that the US Dollar could at least stop falling over the coming weeks.
US Dollar bullish momentum eased when Wall Street picked up off session lows towards the close. However, more clarity could only be seen when London opens given the public holiday in Japan.
The Australian dollar traded at $0.7230, moderately above a two-week low struck on Monday. The New Zealand dollar, which fell 1.3% steadied at $0.6668.
The Norwegian krone plunged 2% as oil prices declined and sat close to a two-month reached overnight.
The euro traded around a 6 week low at $1.1766, while sterling was vulnerable at $1.2818 on talk of tighter Covid restrictions amid a rising rate of new daily infections.
On Monday, the top medical advisor warned that the UK faces a rapidly rising death rate unless measures were put in place to stem the spread of covid. Prime Minister Boris Johnson will support the Working from home narrative.
The swift drive lower in the Yen was potentially the most perplexing move overnight in Asian trade.
The Japanese currency has been one of the top performing majors across recent weeks amid jittery investors boosting safe haven demand. However, the JPY dropped from aa six-month high of 104 to104.68 as demand for US Dollars rose..
One analyst suggested that this could be owing to domestic asset managers buying up foreign assets at the lows, and buying dollars to pay for them
The same analysts suggested that his could also just be a natural correction, still within the major trend of rising assets prices and a weaker USD. Very lose U.S. monetary policy is the overwhelming driver of everything, he said.
On Monday President Donald Trump also told a political rally that he attempted to adjust the exchange rate of the US Dollar when he was accusing China of currency manipulation his request was refused by officials
