The stability of the dollar and the rise of cryptocurrencies

The dollar received support at the beginning of Asian trading, today, after US President Donald Trump announced the suspension of an attack that was scheduled to be launched on Iran to provide an opportunity for negotiations, while bond markets stabilized after a two-day selling wave.

The dollar index, which measures the performance of the US currency against six currencies, settled at 99.026. The dollar stabilized at 158.895 yen after government data showed today that the Japanese economy grew 2.1 percent on an annual basis in the first quarter, compared to average market expectations that indicated a growth of 1.7 percent.

The euro stabilized at $1.1650, while the British pound fell 0.1 percent to $1.3427.

The Australian dollar fell 0.1 percent to $0.7164, while its New Zealand counterpart fell 0.1 percent to $0.5868.

Against the Chinese yuan, the dollar stabilized at 6.798 yuan in foreign transactions.

The encrypted currency Bitcoin rose 0.2 percent to $77,005.69, while Ether rose 0.8 percent to $2,131.91.