Dollar Falters as Investors Weigh Iran Sanctions and Treasury Buybacks
The US dollar struggled to hold onto gains against major peers on Tuesday as investors weighed in on Washington's expanded Iran-related sanctions and efforts to ease pressure on longer-dated Treasury yields.
The euro was a shade higher at $1.1668, near its three-month peak hit last week, while sterling strengthened 0.1% to $1.3639, near its six-month peak.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent unveiled an expansion of sanctions against Iran on Monday, warning countries to cut business ties with Iran or risk being forced out of the dollar-based financial system.
Ray Attrill, head of FX strategy at National Australia Bank, noted that the sanctions 'potentially is one source of a slight reversal of the dollar weakness that we had at the end of last week.'