Dollar climbs on U.S.-China diplomatic tensions, coronavirus fears

The dollar climbed against its peers on Tuesday as worries about the U.S.-China diplomatic tensions and rising coronavirus cases affected risk appetite.

The dollar traded at 107.26 on the yen after a 0.4% gain in the last session. It stood at 0.9418 on the Swiss franc.

The euro firmed at $1.1346 and at 90.40 pence per pound.

The Trump administration is planning to scrap a 2013 agreement between the U.S. and Chinese auditing authorities, worsening the diplomatic conflict between the two countries. This could lead to a crackdown on Chinese firms listed on U.S. stock markets that are eluding U.S. disclosure rules.

In onshore trade, the yuan dropped 0.2% to 7.0091 on the dollar. Asian currencies such as the Singapore dollar fell after the latter’s GDP fell by a record 41.2% in the second quarter.

The Australian dollar sat at $0.6949 and the New Zealand dollar traded at $0.6541.