Safe Haven Currencies Fall on Hopes Over Ukraine Crisis

The safe-haven Japanese yen weakened on Friday, and risk-sensitive currencies such as the Australian dollar rose as investors took comfort from a plan for talks between the United States and Russia on the crisis in Ukraine.

The Euro rose as the dollar weakened.

The yen and the Swiss franc, a rival haven, gained this week as investors worried about rising tensions on the Ukrainian border where Russia has deployed more than 100,000 troops. Western powers say Russia is looking for an excuse to invade, a charge Moscow rejects.

Sentiment improved after news late Thursday that US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken had accepted an invitation to meet his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, next week.

The dollar rose 0.3 percent against the yen and reached a high of 115.3 yen after touching a two-week low of 114.79 early Friday.

But the dollar is still down 0.3 percent against the Japanese currency this week.

The dollar also rose 0.2 percent against the Swiss franc to 0.9216 francs, while the Euro rose 0.1 percent against the Swiss currency.

The Chinese yuan hit its highest level since April 2018 in overseas markets.

The Euro continued its volatility this week depending on the news of the Ukrainian crisis and settled during Friday at $1.136.

Other currencies sensitive to investor sentiment rose, with the Australian dollar gaining 0.4 percent to 0.7228 per dollar, before giving up some of its gains.

The improvement in sentiment did little for cryptocurrencies, with Bitcoin dropping 1 percent to $40,229, near a two-week low.