Early trade in New York: Dollar strengthens as election seen swinging toward Clinton

The dollar rose on Monday after the FBI decided that US Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton will not face criminal charges, which was seen as a boost to her chances of winning Tuesday's contest with Republican rival Donald Trump.
The greenback gained 0.77 percent against a basket of currencies after getting hammered last week when FBI Director James Comey said the agency was looking at another large batch of Clinton emails, strengthening chances of a Trump victory, an outcome that was seen as likely to send shock waves through markets.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation said late Sunday it stood by its earlier finding that no criminal charges were warranted against Clinton for her email practices. The announcement sent the dollar surging against the yen and the euro, and offered relief to the Mexican peso.
"It's all the election. It's all the Comey letter," said Joseph Trevisani, chief market strategist at World-wide Markets in Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey, referring to the currency moves. Some analysts treated the election outcome with caution after the British vote to leave the European Union in June took markets by surprise and sent them into disarray.
"Brexit was a hard lesson for many, and it's still in the recent memory," Oanda senior market analyst Craig Erlam said. Owing to Trump's stance on immigration, foreign policy and trade, the Mexican peso has taken a heavy hit, down at one point in September by as much as 17 percent against the dollar since he won the Republican nomination in July.
Boosted by the FBI's most recent decision, the peso gained as much as 2.5 percent to hit a 12-day high of 18.55 per dollar. The dollar was up 1.3 percent at 104.50 yen. It declined to 102.550 against the safe-haven Japanese currency last week as polls showed a tightening US presidential race. The euro fell 0.7 percent against the dollar to $1.1056. Sterling also slipped against the dollar, falling 0.9 percent to $1.2408.