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* Aussie drops amid bets RBA may reverse taper decision
* Yen helped by steep drop in U.S. Treasury yields
* Bitcoin falls below $30,000 for first time in a month
By Kevin Buckland
TOKYO, July 20 (Reuters) - Safe-harbour currencies like the
yen and dollar traded near multi-month highs against the riskier
Australian dollar and British pound on Tuesday, as fears grow
that a rampant coronavirus variant could upend the global
economic recovery.
Cryptocurrencies also sank, with bitcoin falling
below $30,000 for the first time in about a month.
The yen traded at 80.09 per Aussie dollar,
close to the more-than-five-month high of 80.05 touched on
Monday. It stood at 149.48 to the pound,
approaching the almost-three-month top of 149.35 reached
overnight.
The dollar touched an almost-eight-month high of $0.7317 per
Aussie on Tuesday before trading at $0.7319, and
changed hands at $1.36625 to sterling after hitting the
highest since early February at $1.3655 in the previous session.
The Aussie accelerated declines as minutes of the Reserve
Bank of Australia"s policy meeting this month were seen by some
economists as a sign the central bank may reverse a decision to
taper stimulus.
The yen outpaced the dollar, rising to 109.07 per greenback
on Monday for the first time since late May, helped by
a precipitous slide in benchmark U.S. Treasury yields
to as low as 1.1740% for the first time since
mid-February. On Tuesday, one dollar bought 109.46 yen.
The fast-spreading Delta variant of the coronavirus is now
the dominant strain worldwide, and has been accompanied by a
surge in infections around the United States, particularly in
areas where vaccinations have lagged.
Meanwhile, Boris Johnson"s "freedom day" - ending over a
year of COVID-19 lockdown restrictions in England - was marred
by surging infections and the British prime minister"s own
forced self-isolation after Health Minister Sajid Javid tested
positive for the virus.
In Australia, nearly half the country"s 25 million people is
living under lockdowns to quell an outbreak of the Delta
variant.
"What is likely concerning markets now is ... a surge in
infections occurring in developed markets with high levels of
vaccination," National Australia Bank analyst Tapas Strickland
wrote in a client note.
"That suggests virus restrictions may need to be in place
for longer," delaying the global recovery, he said.
The euro weakened 0.1% to $1.17885, after dipping
overnight to the lowest since early April at $1.1764.
The European Central Bank announces policy on Thursday, with
market participants keen to see how the monetary authority
implements changes to its strategy unveiled earlier this month.
"The ECB (is) expected to reinforce its dovish policy
settings at this week’s policy meeting," giving the euro scope
to soften in coming months, Rabobank strategist Jane Foley wrote
in a research note.
At the same time, the dollar is likely to remain supported
by safe-haven demand, pushing the euro toward $1.17 by year-end,
she said.
In cryptocurrencies, bitcoin sank as low as
$29,500, a level not seen since June 22, before trading 4.1%
lower at $29,559.10.
Rival ether dropped 4.8% to $1,730.33, also
nearing a one-month low.
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Currency bid prices at 0434 GMT
Description RIC Last U.S. Close Pct Change YTD Pct High Bid Low Bid
Previous Change
Session
Euro/Dollar $1.1790 $1.1800 -0.08% -3.50% +1.1802 +1.1789
Dollar/Yen 109.4150 109.4600 -0.03% +5.94% +109.6000 +109.3750
Euro/Yen
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