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AUD/USD consolidates during the Asian session on Thursday, trading just above 0.6950 as traders await further developments surrounding the Middle East crisis. The Pentagon reportedly ordered readiness for potential strikes against Iran. This keeps the geopolitical risk premium in play, which, along with hawkish FOMC Minutes on Wednesday and elevated US bond yields, supports the bullish US Dollar and caps the currency pair.
USD/JPY retreats further from a one-and-a-half-week top, touched the previous day, and slid below 158.00 during the Asian session on Thursday amid speculation that authorities will step in to prop up the Japanese Yen. Meanwhile, the US Dollar sits near an 18-month high, supported by Wednesday's hawkish FOMC Minutes and the risk of a further escalation of tensions in the Middle East. This might continue to act as a tailwind for the currency pair.
Gold struggles to capitalize on the overnight bounce from a two-month low, trading with a mild negative bias around $4,100 during Thursday’s Asian session. Hawkish FOMC Minutes reaffirmed bets for at least one more rate hike by year-end. Adding to this, elevated US bond yields weigh on the non-yielding bullion. The US Dollar further benefits from geopolitical uncertainties and sits near an 18-month high, undermining the commodity.
Ethereum (ETH) researcher Justin Drake has urged the crypto industry to begin preparing for a potential breakthrough that could undermine the cryptographic systems securing digital assets. In an X post on Wednesday, Drake called on the industry to calmly enter what he described as “bunker mode.”
In 2026, the US Dollar Index, which measures the Dollar against six major currencies, has risen on days when Federal Reserve rate expectations pushed Treasury yields up and barely moved on days when something else did. The last stretch of the 10-year yield's climb to its highest since 2002 was the second kind.
