Investing.com - The dollar remained weaker against the yen and the Swiss franc on Monday, as tensions over the crisis in Ukraine continued to underpin investor demand for safe haven assets.
USD/JPY hit 101.20, the lowest since February 5 and was last down 0.44% to 101.33.
Escalating tensions over the unfolding crisis in the Ukraine sparked a broad based selloff in risk assets, following Russian President Vladimir Putin’s decision to send troops into the Crimea region over the weekend.
Ukraine's interim government has called for more international support to force Russian troops to leave.
The move sparked fears that the West will impose economic and diplomatic sanctions on Russia. Russia’s central bank hiked interest rates from 5.5% to 7% on Monday, after the rouble fell to new record lows against the euro and dollar.
The dollar was also weaker against the traditional safe haven Swiss franc, with USD/CHF trading at 0.8806, hovering just above the 16-month lows of 0.8775 struck on Friday.
Elsewhere, the euro was lower against the dollar, with EUR/USD slipping 0.20% to 1.3774, off Friday’s two-month highs of 1.3823.
In the euro zone, data on Monday confirmed that the region’s manufacturing purchasing managers’ index declined to 53.2 in February from 54.0 in January. It was the first dip in five months, highlighting the fragile nature of the recovery in the euro area.
The rate of decline in France’s manufacturing sector eased in February, while activity in Germany’s manufacturing sector rose for the eighth straight month.
The euro remained supported after euro zone inflation data late last week eased pressure on the European Central Bank to tighten monetary policy at its upcoming meeting on Thursday.
GBP/USD was down 0.05% to 1.6735, after falling to lows of 1.6702 earlier.
Sterling recovered from lows after data on Monday showed that the strong upswing in the U.K. manufacturing sector continued in February, with jobs growth in the sector accelerating to a 33-month high.
The Markit U.K. manufacturing PMI for February came in at 56.9, up from a revised 56.6 in January. Analysts had expected the index to tick down to 56.5.
A separate report showed that the number of mortgages approved in the U.K. rose to 76,947 in February, the highest level since November 2007, from 72,798 in January.
The Australian dollar edged lower, with AUD/USD dipping 0.03% to trade at 0.8924, while NZD/USD was down 0.15% to 0.8370.
The U.S. dollar was also higher against the Canadian dollar, with USD/CAD advancing 0.26% to 1.1091.
The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, was up 0.08% to 79.87.