Dollar gains as Trump sets no clear Iran ceasefire timeline in speech

HONG KONG: The dollar advanced against ‌major currencies on Thursday, reversing two days of losses, after U.S. President Donald Trump's address on Iran shattered hopes for a possible ceasefire in the Middle East conflict that has rattled investors and roiled markets.

In Trump's national address, the president said the conflict ​in Iran would soon end, but the U.S. military would continue to hit targets ​there over the next two to three weeks.

The dollar index, which measures ⁠the greenback against a basket of currencies, climbed to a high of 99.925 after the ​speech. It last traded up 0.3% at 99.861.

The greenback has benefited from a rush to safe-haven assets since the conflict ​began in late February. Expectations that a ceasefire could be near have reversed some of the markets' most popular trades earlier this week and put the greenback on a two-day decline.

"Trump's comments failed to reassure markets ... ​markets are starting to realise that the war will probably escalate further from here before ​de-escalating," said Carol Kong, a currency strategist at Commonwealth Bank of Australia.

"The dollar can definitely increase further ‌from here ⁠against all the major currencies", as markets wake up to the fact that the global economy will just slow down materially from here, she added.

The euro stood at $1.1554, and the sterling fetched $1.3254, both down roughly 0.3% versus the dollar after the speech to give up some recent gains.

The risk-sensitive Australian ​dollar and the New ​Zealand dollar were ⁠both down roughly 0.6%, trading at $0.68865 and $0.5719, respectively.

The Japanese yen traded weaker at 159.25, but it was still away from the psychologically important 160 level that is ​viewed as the line in the sand for intervention by Japanese authorities.

Now that ​the speech ⁠is over, attention will turn to Friday's U.S. non-farm payrolls report. The market is looking for a 60,000 rise in jobs for March, according to the median estimate of economists polled by Reuters. 

A sharp ⁠deterioration in ​the labor market could revive expectations for rate cuts ​from the Federal Reserve this year, which have been largely priced out as sharply rising oil prices due to the Iran ​war have stoked inflation concerns.