Swiss franc and yen scale new highs

The Swiss franc and the yen scaled multi-month highs as investors piled into havens on fears that the spread of the delta variant could derail global growth, Bloomberg reports.

The franc traded at 1.0726 per euro as of 11:02 a.m. in Tokyo after touching 1.0722 on Tuesday, the strongest level since November 9.

The yen hovered near a 10-week high of 108.88 reached the previous day.

The two haven currencies have outperformed all their major peers over the past one month.

The rush for havens is the latest evidence that risk sentiment and growth expectations remain fragile. U.S. 10-year yields have dropped about 60 basis points from their peak in March while traders are boosting wagers for another round of policy easing in China as governments initiate fresh curbs to contain the spread of the delta strain.

“The rising cases of the delta variant has tempered somewhat the optimism that was building regarding the strength of recovery of the major economies,” said Stuart Cole, head macro economist at Equiti Capital. “This rise in risk aversion is benefiting the likes of the franc and yen.”