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©Reuters. Illustrative stock image of US dollar, Swiss franc, British pound and euro banknotes taken in Warsaw
Por Tommy Wilkes
NEW YORK, Feb 24 (Reuters) – The dollar soared on Thursday and the Russian ruble fell to a record low after Russia launched an invasion of Ukraine, triggering dramatic moves in currency markets toward safe havens.
* Russian forces invaded Ukraine by land, air and sea, confirming the West’s worst fears with the largest state-on-state attack in Europe since World War II.
* It was up 1,501% and on track for its biggest daily percentage gain since March 2020. The greenback hit a high of 97,740 against a basket of major currencies, its highest value since June 30, 2020.
* “We have a huge geopolitical development that a lot of people haven’t seen before in their lives,” said Erik Bregar, director of currency and precious metals risk management at Silver Gold Bull Inc in Toronto. “There is a tug-of-war over which currency is the biggest haven right now.”
* The ruble weakened 6.7% against the greenback to 86.92 per dollar after hitting a record low of 89.986 per dollar.
* Against other safe-haven securities, the dollar rose 1% against the Swiss franc, while the Japanese yen weakened 0.52% against the greenback to settle at 115.56 per dollar.
* The greenback also gained strongly against other European currencies including the Swedish krona, Hungarian forint and Polish zloty.
* The euro fell 1.65% to $1.1122, while the British pound traded at $1.3277, down 1.96% on the day.
* The dollar has recently come under stress in Ukraine and has fueled speculation that the US Federal Reserve may be less aggressive in tightening monetary policy in March.
* Expectations for an interest rate hike of at least 50 basis points have eased to about 13% from 34% a day ago, according to CME’s FedWatch tool.
* As for cryptocurrencies, the fell 3.97% to $36,035.32.
(Additional reporting by Elizabeth Howcroft; Editing in Spanish by Javier Leira)
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