Dollar under pressure as oil prices slump, Australia rate decision awaited

HONG KONG, Nov 3 : The dollar wavered alongside oil prices on Tuesday on hopes for a diplomatic breakthrough between the US and Iran, while the Aussie was steady ahead of the Reserve Bank of Australia's rate decision.

Brent crude futures plunged more than 7 per cent on Monday in their sharpest single-day drop in months, after Tehran said its contacts with the US aimed at ending their eight-month war were continuing.

Falling energy prices helped ease inflation concerns and dragged longer-dated US Treasury yields lower.

The yield on the benchmark US 10-year Treasury note was steady at 4.9145 per cent, while that on the 30-year bond was also flat at 5.2868 per cent. Both had dipped to their lowest levels in nearly two months in the previous session.

The dollar index, which measures the currency against a basket of currencies including the yen and the euro, last traded a shade weaker at 101.76 after dropping to a one-month low on Monday.

Meanwhile, an AI-driven stock market slump showed little sign of slowing down, hurting risk sentiment and lending some support to the dollar. Tensions around US midterm elections also loom large, helping to prop up the dollar as a safe-haven play.

"Oil relief is growing, but conviction elsewhere remains thin," Sim Moh Siong, FX strategist at OCBC, said in a note.

"Cheaper energy is reshaping FX dynamics, while AI concerns and US election risks reinforce our view that the USD remains supported."

The euro was a touch higher at $1.1185 on the back of dollar weakness.

The Japanese yen was flat at 157.915 per dollar during a local holiday.

ANOTHER ROUND OF CENTRAL BANK MEETINGS

Multiple central banks are scheduled to issue policy statements this week, including those in Britain, Australia, Norway and Sweden.

The Reserve Bank of Australia is expected to raise the official cash rate by 25 basis points to 4.85 per cent on Tuesday, which would be the highest level since December 2008. The move would bring total tightening this year across five increases to 125 basis points.

The Australian dollar was little changed at $0.7002. The kiwi was flat at $0.5617.

Sterling strengthened 0.05 per cent to $1.3414 after PMI data showed British manufacturers started the final quarter of 2026 with the strongest output growth in more than two years.

Economists polled by Reuters expect the Bank of England to raise its Bank Rate to 4.0 per cent from 3.75 per cent, the first hike since August 2023, when inflation was still more than triple its 2 per cent target.