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Experts see potential for stronger dollar amid Middle East conflict

"Amid the escalation, safe-haven assets are naturally in higher demand, and the dollar is no exception — the DXY briefly jumped to winter highs above 98 points," stock market expert at BCS World of Investments Mikhail Zeltser said

MOSCOW, March 2. /TASS/. The US dollar may strengthen against global currencies amid rising demand for safe-haven assets due to the escalation of the conflict in the Middle East, experts surveyed by TASS said.

As of February 26, the US Dollar Index (DXY), which tracks its exchange rate against a basket of reserve currencies, stood at 97.647 points (-0.12%) on the London-based ICE exchange, according to TradingView data. As of 10:25 a.m. Moscow time on March 2, the index was up 0.7% at 98.327 points.

"Amid the escalation, safe-haven assets are naturally in higher demand, and the dollar is no exception — the DXY briefly jumped to winter highs above 98 points. The dollar against the basket of reserve currencies may move even higher on emotions, with the next resistance for the DXY at the round 100-point level, meaning global currency pairs could weaken by up to 2%," stock market expert at BCS World of Investments Mikhail Zeltser said.

Alexander Bakhtin, investment strategist at Garda Capital, suggested that amid the Middle East conflict, investors would exit risky assets and reallocate funds into more defensive instruments, particularly gold.

"Its quotations are rising. Capital will also flow into the dollar as a ‘safe-haven’ currency. This is confirmed by the modest rise in the dollar index," he added.

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