* Dollar drops from three-month highs as Treasury yields
tumble
* Spread of Delta variant fuels worries about global
recovery
* Euro also firmer in face of dollar weakness as havens
sought
By Kevin Buckland
TOKYO, July 9 (Reuters) - The safe-haven yen and Swiss franc
stood tall on Friday, while risk-sensitive currencies including
the Australian and New Zealand dollars languished near
multi-month lows as investors turned cautious about the global
economic recovery.
Bonds have rallied while stocks took a hammering worldwide
amid growing concerns the fast-spreading Delta variant of
COVID-19 could derail a revival that is already showing pockets
of weakness.
The benchmark U.S. Treasury yield dipped to a
nearly five-month low of 1.25% overnight, from as high as
1.5440% just two weeks ago.
That put pressure on the U.S. currency, with the dollar
index left licking its wounds after a 0.36% slide on
Thursday to stand at 92.372. On Wednesday, it had pushed to a
three-month high of 92.8440.
The euro benefited, holding on to a 0.45% jump
from overnight to trade at $1.1846.
The yen changed hands at 109.865 per dollar,
maintaining gains from the previous session"s 0.8% rally.
"There is certainly a wind of change in markets," with
concerns about inflation now shifting to concerns about growth,
Rodrigo Catril, a strategist at National Australia Bank, wrote
in a client note.
"There has not been a single catalyst triggering a turn in
sentiment, instead it seems that an accumulation of events,"
including the rapid spread of the Delta variant and perceptions
that central bank tightening could choke the recovery, he said.
Data on Thursday showed the number of Americans filing new
claims for unemployment benefits rose unexpectedly last week, an
indication that the labor market recovery from the COVID-19
pandemic continues to be choppy.
The Swiss franc held on to gains from Thursday,
when it soared more than 1%, to trade at 0.91540 per dollar.
The Aussie slipped 0.1% to $0.74245 after dropping
0.7% on Thursday and touching its weakest since mid-December at
$0.74170.
New Zealand"s kiwi languished at $0.69435,
maintaining a more than 1% plunge from the previous session.
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Currency bid prices at 0101 GMT
Description RIC Last U.S. Close Pct Change YTD Pct High Bid Low Bid
Previous Change
Session
Euro/Dollar $1.1839 $1.1845 -0.04% -3.10% +1.1850 +1.1839
Dollar/Yen 109.8800 109.7750 +0.08% +6.37% +109.9200 +109.8000
Euro/Yen
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