By Gina Lee
Investing.com – The dollar was up on Monday morning in Asia, with the euro falling to a fresh 22-month low against the dollar and hitting multi-year lows on the yen, Swiss franc, and the pound. The ongoing conflict in Ukraine drove up commodity prices and stoked fears of a stagflationary shock that would hit Europe the hardest.
The U.S. Dollar Index that tracks the greenback against a basket of other currencies was up 0.27% to 98.933 by 11:04 PM ET (4:04 AM GMT). It was near a 22-month peak of 98.925 hit on Friday.
The USD/JPY pair edged up 0.10% to 114.90.
The AUD/USD pair gained 0.62% to 0.7416 and the NZD/USD pair was up 0.48% to 0.6893.
The USD/CNY pair inched up 0.07% to 6.3224. Trade data released earlier in the day showed that exports grew 16.3% year-on-year in February 2022, while imports grew 15.5% year-on-year, and the trade balance was $115.95 billion.
The GBP/USD pair edged down 0.12% to 1.3209.
The euro was down as much as 0.6% to $1.0864 earlier in the session, the lowest since May 2020, and was on the way to its 2020 low around $1.0636. It also fell below one Swiss franc, hitting 0.9982 for the first time since the franc quit its euro peg in 2015.
Oil futures, which surged more than 20% last week, climbed 10% as the U.S. and Europe look to ban Russian imports.
"This is very bad news for global growth, particularly Europe, given their dependence on gas from Russia," ANZ analysts said in a note.
"All up, it's another big, ugly supply shock on top of lingering COVID-19 impacts, with serious inflationary consequences that give central banks absolutely no room to 'give growth a chance'."
The conflict in Ukraine intensified over the weekend, with attempts at a ceasefire to allow civilians to evacuate from the city of Mariupol having seemingly failed so far.
The euro fell to a 15-month low of 124.78 yen and hit its lowest since mid-2016 against the pound at 82.23 pence.
In Asia Pacific, the Australian dollar was up 0.3% to a four-month high. Spot prices for Australian coal climbed more than 70% in about a week as buyers seek alternatives to Russian energy, and wheat is also up about 50% since early February. The Australian dollar is also up more than 10% against the euro in around a month. The New Zealand dollar is up to a seven-week high, although it could give up those gains if the geopolitical situation deteriorates and the war in Ukraine drags on.
The greenback also rose against the yen and Swiss franc and was last up about 0.4% on the franc, and around 0.3% higher against the yen.
Meanwhile, the European Central Bank will hand down its policy decision later in the week, with the central bank expected to wait until the last months of 2022 to hike its interest rates, according to a Reuters poll. The U.S. will also release its consumer price index later in the week.