Early trade in New York: safe-haven currencies rise as North Korea tensions brew

Traditional safe-haven currencies including the Swiss franc and Japanese yen rose on Wednesday, boosted by worries about increased tensions between the United States and North Korea. The greenback slipped 0.83 percent to a near two-week low against the Swiss franc and fell to 110.11 yen, its lowest in nearly two months against the Japanese currency.
"Obviously we are looking at the increased tensions between the US and North Korea," said Brad Bechtel, managing director FX at Jefferies in New York. "Tensions are still high and not going away at the moment. Safe havens are bid and markets are a little uneasy."
The dollar index, which tracks the greenback against six rival currencies, was up 0.07 percent to 93.717, after rising as high as 93.888 earlier in the session. Most Asian currencies stumbled, with the Korean won on pace for its biggest fall in nearly eight weeks as North Korea warned it is "carefully examining" plans for a missile strike on the US Pacific territory of Guam.
The Swiss franc was on pace for its biggest single-day rise against the euro since the Swiss National Bank removed its cap on the currency in January 2015. Against the dollar the euro was 0.16 percent lower. The bid for safe havens also pressured the Australian and New Zealand dollars. Sterling was little changed against the greenback at close to a 2-1/2-week low, having lost around 2 percent since the Bank of England last week voted 6-2 to keep interest rates on hold at their record lows.