Dollar jumps as failed US/Iran peace talks

The dollar jumped against other major currencies in thin trading late on Sunday, as investors sought the relative safety of the U.S. currency after marathon talks between Washington and Tehran failed to yield a peace deal, plunging markets into a seventh week of uncertainty.



President Donald Trump on Sunday said the U.S. Navy would start blockading the Strait of Hormuz, a choke point for 20% of the world's daily energy supplies that Iran effectively closed since the war started in late February.



That has driven oil prices up by over 30% and fuelled fears of a widespread surge in inflation.



The dollar, which has acted as a safe haven given the limited exposure of the United States to imported energy-price inflation, rallied as Asian markets opened for trading, leaving the euro down 0.53% at $1.1663 and gaining 0.1% against the Japanese yen to trade at 159.43.



The U.S. and Iran on April 7 announced a two-week ceasefire that investors initially cheered by selling oil and putting some capital back into risk assets such as stocks.



Concern over the fragility of the deal has since prompted an unwinding of some of those trades.