The euro ​bought $1.1539 and sterling $1.3235, a little bit above multi-month lows made late in March

The dollar stood just short of recent highs on Tuesday as traders counted down to a U.S.-imposed deadline for Iran to open the Persian Gulf to shipping or face attacks on its ​infrastructure.

War in the Middle East and the closure of the Gulf’s chokepoint at the ‌Strait of Hormuz has sent energy prices soaring and driven investors to dollars as the most effective safe haven, pushing the U.S. currency higher, especially in Asia.

Hope for some sort of deal or breakthrough has held off further dollar buying through ​Easter, but markets are jittery and there are few big sellers of dollars ahead of U.S.

The yen traded at 159.67 to ⁠the dollar, not far from multi-decade troughs and levels that drew intervention in 2024. The euro ​bought $1.1539 and sterling $1.3235, a little bit above multi-month lows made late in March.

The market is long USD in case ​of further escalation, but stocks, gold and CNH trade well and put a lid on dollar gains, said Brent Donnelly, president at Spectra Markets.

It’s hard to make any high-confidence predictions here. We wait for 8 p.m. and see what type of ​attacks Iran and U.S./Israel launch in the meantime, he said.

Tehran has rejected a ceasefire and said a permanent end to the war was necessary.

The Australian and New Zealand ​dollars, which tumbled as Iranian strikes ⁠on Mideast energy infrastructure intensified late in March, have nudged higher to $0.6917 and $0.5714 respectively, though trade is tentative.

The South Korean won remains on the weak side of ​1,500, a level plumbed only in the wake of crises in 2009 and ​the late ⁠1990s. Indonesia’s rupiah hit a record low on Monday, while China’s yuan was steady in offshore trade.