FOREX-Dollar gains as US-Iran war gauged

The dollar rose on Monday as investors weighed contradictory developments in the Iran war, while the pound fell from earlier levels as markets prepared for new British Prime Minister Andy Burnham.



Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis said they were imposing a naval blockade on Saudi Arabia, a move that opens a new front against the United States in its war on Iran and widens the threat to global energy supplies and trade beyond the Gulf.



But crude prices came off their initial move higher as Iran and the United States signaled they wanted to resume diplomacy.



U.S. crude advanced 0.22% to $82.67 a barrel and Brent rose to $88.78 per barrel, up 0.77% on the day, after earlier hitting their highest levels in more than a month.



The dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of currencies, climbed 0.18% to 100.92, with the euro down 0.19% at $1.1417.