The dollar slipped against most other major currencies on Thursday amid safe-haven buying as global tensions escalated and ahead of an expected Bank of Japan interest rate increase, the first in six years.
Israel's bombing of Beirut airport in retaliation for a barrage of rockets fired into its territory, the collapse of talks between South and North Korea over a missile crisis, and tensions between Western powers and Iran over Tehran's nuclear program all encouraged flows into safe-haven assets like the Swiss franc, US Treasuries and gold.
"Basically what you are seeing is a flight to quality on security concerns," said Craig Russell, senior foreign exchange strategist at Chicago-based ODL Securities Inc.
Mid-afternoon in New York, The dollar was down 0.3 percent against the Swiss franc at 1.2296 francs, having fallen as low as 1.2276 francs. Sterling was up 0.5 percent against the dollar at $1.8435.
The dollar's losses would have been worse, said Russell, but the dollar, the currency of the world's largest economy, was also attracting some safe-haven buying after investors in smaller currencies had bought their fill of Swiss francs.
The euro was down 0.1 percent on the day against the dollar at $1.2689, and posted heavier losses against the Swiss franc at 1.5606 francs and sterling at 68.82 pence.
"I think today you're seeing some strength in the Swiss franc. People usually look at the Swiss franc relative to the euro and you're seeing a relatively sharp fall in that cross today," said Nick Bennenbroek, senior currency strategist at Brown Brothers Harriman in New York.
The yen was still firm after the first of two days of Bank of Japan policy talks. The dollar last traded at 115.37 yen, down 0.1 percent from the prior New York session.
Financial markets are looking for the BoJ to raise the overnight call rate on Friday to 0.25 percent, ending an era of zero rates aimed at fighting off deflation, and will be looking for clues on the pace of further rate hikes.
Whatever the BoJ decision, some analysts expect the dollar yen to move higher against the yen.
"Dollar/yen will move higher after the (BoJ) rate hike as they will throw cold water on people looking for more" rate increases, said Ron Simpson, director of currency research at Action Economics in Dobbs Ferry, New York. "If they don't do anything, dollar/yen is going to 120."
An unexpectedly sharp rise in initial weekly US jobless claims earlier had little effect on the dollar, as analysts pinned the higher number on annual maintenance shut-downs in the auto industry.