Key facts
- Brent crude futures fell more than 7% on Monday, their sharpest single-day drop in months, after Tehran said US contacts were continuing.
- The dollar index last traded at 101.76 after dropping to a one-month low on Monday.
- The US 10-year Treasury yield was steady at 4.9145% and the 30-year at 5.2868%.
- Economists polled by Reuters expect the Reserve Bank of Australia to raise its cash rate by 25 basis points to 4.85% on Tuesday.
- The euro was a touch higher at $1.1185 and the yen flat at 157.915 per dollar during a local holiday.
- Sterling strengthened 0.05% to $1.3414 after UK PMI data showed the strongest output growth in more than two years.
The dollar wavered alongside oil prices on Tuesday on hopes for a diplomatic breakthrough between the US and Iran, while the Australian dollar was steady ahead of the Reserve Bank of Australia's rate decision, Reuters reported from Hong Kong.
Brent crude futures fell more than 7% on Monday in their sharpest single-day drop in months, after Tehran said its contacts with the US aimed at ending their eight-month war were continuing. Falling energy prices helped ease inflation concerns and pulled longer-dated US Treasury yields lower.
The yield on the benchmark US 10-year Treasury note was steady at 4.9145%, while that on the 30-year bond was also flat at 5.2868%. Both had dipped to their lowest levels in nearly two months in the previous session.
The dollar index, which measures the currency against a basket of currencies including the yen and the euro, last traded a shade weaker at 101.76 after dropping to a one-month low on Monday. The euro was a touch higher at $1.1185 on the back of dollar weakness, and the Japanese yen was flat at 157.915 per dollar during a local holiday.
An AI-driven stock market slump showed little sign of slowing, hurting risk sentiment and lending some support to the dollar, according to the report. Tensions around US midterm elections also loom large, helping to prop up the dollar as a safe-haven play, it said.
"Oil relief is growing, but conviction elsewhere remains thin," Sim Moh Siong, FX strategist at OCBC, said in a note. "Cheaper energy is reshaping FX dynamics, while AI concerns and US election risks reinforce our view that the USD remains supported."
The Reserve Bank of Australia is expected to raise the official cash rate by 25 basis points to 4.85% on Tuesday, which would be the highest level since December 2008, according to economists polled by Reuters. The move would bring total tightening this year across five increases to 125 basis points. The Australian dollar was little changed at $0.7002, and the kiwi was flat at $0.5617.
Sterling strengthened 0.05% to $1.3414 after PMI data showed British manufacturers started the final quarter of 2026 with the strongest output growth in more than two years. Economists polled by Reuters expect the Bank of England to raise its Bank Rate to 4.0% from 3.75%, the first hike since August 2023, when inflation was still more than triple its 2% target.