The euro held gains on Tuesday after a relief rally triggered by the first-round results of the French presidential election, while the safe haven yen weakened amid an ongoing uplift in risk appetite.
EUR/USD was up 0.18% at 1.0890 by 07.17 GMT, not far from Monday’s peak of 1.0918, the highest level since November 11 after centrist former economy minister Emmanuel Macron won the first round of French presidential elections.
Polls, which were largely accurate in predicting the first round result, have indicated that Macron will comfortably beat euro skeptic nationalist Marine Le Pen in the runoff vote on May 7.
The dollar pushed higher against the yen, with USD/JPY rising 0.48% to 110.29.
Markets showed little reaction after North Korea conducted a massive live-fire drill on Tuesday amid heightened geopolitical tensions with the U.S.
Investors were also eyeing events in Washington ahead of a looming deadline to avoid a government shutdown and ongoing uncertainty over economic policy.
U.S. President Donald Trump said Friday that a “big announcement” was coming this Wednesday on overhauling the U.S. tax code. An administration official said on Saturday that the announcement will consist of “broad principles and priorities”.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was at 98.89, holding above the one-month low of 98.70 set on Monday.
Sterling was slightly higher against the dollar, with GBP/USD ticking up 0.13% to 1.2809.
Meanwhile, the Canadian dollar fell to the lowest levels in four months after the U.S. Commerce Department said it will impose new anti-subsidy duties averaging 20% on Canadian softwood lumber imports.
USD/CAD was last up 0.48% at 1.3569, the most since December 28.
