* Norwegian crown worst performing currency
* US dollar only down against Japanese yen
* Graphic: World FX rates in 2019 http://tmsnrt.rs/2egbfVh
By Olga Cotaga
LONDON, April 21 (Reuters) - The U.S. dollar rose on Tuesday
against most major currencies as investors sought a safe haven
after a plunge in oil prices a day earlier.
U.S. crude oil futures plunged into negative territory for
the first time on Monday, dragged by a supply glut and sagging
demand due to the novel coronavirus pandemic though they managed
to scrape back into positive territory early Tuesday. O/R
Oil-linked currencies like the Norwegian crown and the
Canadian dollar were the worst performing currencies on Tuesday,
along with the Swedish crown, a currency very sensitive to
global economic stability.
The Norwegian crown was down 0.7% at 10.51 against the
dollar NOK=D3 and the Canadian dollar fell 0.4% to 1.4211
against the greenback, a two-week low CAD=D3 .
The Swedish crown was down 0.5% at 10.07 SEK=D3 .
The euro was last down 0.3% at $1.0833 EUR=EBS .
"The euro is suffering as markets contemplate the increased
borrowing that will be necessary to fund the recovery" from
COVID-19, said Marshall Gittler, analyst at broker BDSwiss.
European countries have been issuing debt to support their
economies which have been frozen by the lockdowns.
Against the ultimate safe-haven currency - the Japanese yen
- the dollar was last trading down 0.2% at 107.40 JPY=EBS .
U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude for May delivery CLc1
was trading last -$2.51 per barrel, off a low of minus $40 hit
in New York trading.
The May contract expires on Tuesday. The more actively
traded June contract CLc2 was down at $20.27 a barrel.
"Oil is off its lows, but a lot of companies are going to
get hit and companies could start to fail," said Shane Oliver,
head of investment strategy and chief economist at AMP Capital
Investors in Sydney.
"If share prices have a pullback, the dollar could see some
gains as a safe haven. The only thing that's capping the dollar
is that the Federal Reserve has done more quantitative easing
than anyone else."
Factory closures and travel curbs enforced to slow the pace
of new infections have triggered a collapse in oil prices. This
is drawing money from commodity currencies and other risk assets
to the safety of dollar-denominated assets.
At 0900 GMT, analysts will be watching for the German ZEW
economic sentiment survey. Economists polled by Reuters expect
the economic sentiment and current conditions in April to show
an even more bleak environment.
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