The US dollar dipped against major currencies on Tuesday after traders booked profits from recent multi-year highs in the greenback, while the safe-haven yen benefited from the move. The dollar, which hit fresh nearly nine-year highs against a basket of major currencies early Tuesday, surrendered some of those gains and hit a 1-1/2-week low against the yen of 118.87 yen as traders closed out profitable dollar bets.
The euro also fell against the yen, and was last down over 1 percent against the Japanese currency after hitting a nearly 1-1/2-month low of 144.77 yen. "From the macroeconomic perspective, there isn't any new development to argue for dollar weakness, so I think it has to be mostly related to positioning ahead of year end," said Martin Schwerdtfeger, a foreign exchange strategist at TD Securities in Toronto. The euro hit a 29-month low against the dollar of $1.2123 earlier in the session, while the dollar hit a fresh 29-month high against the Swiss franc of 0.9920 franc.
The dollar was last down 1.29 percent against the yen at 119.12 yen. The euro was last up 0.18 percent against the dollar at $1.2172. The dollar was last down 0.11 percent against the Swiss franc at 0.9886 franc. The US dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, was last down 0.32 percent at 89.900. Sterling was last up 0.26 percent against the dollar at $1.5553.