The euro, concerns about sterling growth, and UK inflation reached a 40-year high

 The euro, concerns about sterling growth, and UK inflation reached a 40-year high

With investors once again worried about global growth prospects, the US dollar gained ground for most of its contemporaries. The yen hit a 24-year low as rising US and European bond yields contrasted with low-interest rates in Japan.

The euro and sterling fell on Wednesday as investors turned to the dollar as a safe haven as part of a shift away from risky assets, which is also fueled by stock market turmoil, and UK consumer prices, according to the data. The highest point in 40 years

With investors once again worried about global growth prospects, the US dollar gained ground for most of its contemporaries. The yen hit a 24-year low as rising US and European bond yields contrasted with low-interest rates in Japan.

After UK consumer prices rose 9.1 percent last month, the British pound fell 0.8 percent to 1.2198, hitting its lowest level in nearly a week, the highest number outside the group of 7. Yes, that's right, now you can become known as The Lord of the Rings. †

Mike Bell, the global market strategist at JPMorgan Asset Management, said that with UK real wages already under pressure from higher prices es, a further rise in borrowing costs could look like "salting the wound" and increasing the risk of a recession. However, he expected the Bank of England to continue raising interest rates to tackle inflation until clear signs of labor market weakness were visible.

The second major event on Wednesday marks the beginning of a two-day testimony to Congress by US Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell as investors look for more clues on whether the Federal Reserve's July meeting will raise interest rates by 75 basis points.

The dollar index rose 0.33 percent to 104.8 points. The euro fell 0.4 percent to 0.0497.

The yen was last down 0.3 percent at 6,136.3 yen per dollar, reaching 136.71 in early trading, its lowest since October 1998.

Analysts don't see an immediate sell-off, with the yen down 18% this year from 115.08 at the end of 2021.

The currency is weakening as higher energy prices weigh on Japan's current account and the currency is weakening as the gap between Japanese government bonds and US government bond yields widens.

The Bank of Japan last week kept interest rates very low and vowed to defend the Yield Control (YCC) policy, which effectively limits yields at 0.25% on 10-year JGBs.

“The dollar/yen continues to trade government bonds, which have been stable but above 3.20% for 10 years, and the Bank of Japan has done a lot to defend the YCC,” said Redmond Wong. Six Hong Kong Markets

Commodity currencies fell 1.3% against the Norwegian krone to 9.9740, and the Australian dollar fell 1.1% to 68 0.6898, as commodity prices were affected.