U.S. Dollar Ends Roughly Flat As Optimism On U.S.-Iran Peace Deal Increases

(RTTNews) - The U.S. Dollar value moved a little upwards after Iranian media reports citing Al-Arabiya indicated that a final draft of U.S.-Iran agreement is underway which could lead to restoring free movement of shipping via the Strait of Hormuz.

The U.S. Dollar Index, DXY, which measures the Greenback against a basket of other major currencies was last seen trading at 99.20, up by 0.07 (or 0.07%) today.

The U.S. Labor Department's data showed that the number of people claiming unemployment benefits fell by 3,000 to 209,000 on the second week of May indicating resilience in the labor market.

Continuing jobless claims increased to 1,782,000 for the week ending May 9 from 1,776,000 of the previous week.

While against the Euro, USD was trading at 1.162, up by 0.04%, against the GBP, it was trading at 1.343, down by 0.02%.

Against the USD, the Japanese Yen was trading at 158.978, down by 0.05%; the Swiss Franc was trading at 0.787, up by 0.08%; and the Canadian Dollar was trading at 1.378, down by 0.25%.

Against one unit of Australian Dollar, USD was trading at 0.715, down by 0.11%. According to Australian Bureau of Statistics, seasonally adjusted unemployment rate increased to 4.50% in April, above both the previous month and market expectations of 4.30%.

The gulf war which began on February 28, entered day number 83 today.

A report from Reuters which cited two senior Iranian sources stated that Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei has ordered that Iran's near-weapons-grade enriched uranium must remain within Iran and added that he has refused to move them outside to any foreign country.

It further stated that Iran's current establishment is of the view that moving the material abroad would leave Iran vulnerable to future attacks by the U.S. and Israel.

Iran's semi-official Fars news agency had earlier stated that the U.S. asked Iran to hand over around 400 kilograms of highly enriched uranium and restrict Iran's nuclear activity to a single facility.

However, a post through social media platform X from Al Jazeera's reporter Ali Hashem (citing a "senior Iranian official") affirmed that the reports of an Iranian decree against the transfer of high-grade uranium out of Iran are false.

The "senior Iranian official" had told Ali Hashem that neither Khamenei stated that nor any new order was issued and called the report a "propaganda".

Since the war erupted on February 28, Iran shut the Strait of Hormuz, and a few weeks later, the U.S. enforced blockade on all ships entering or exiting Iranian ports.

To facilitate smooth exchange of communications between the two nations, Pakistan's Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi is in Iran.

Yesterday, in Connecticut, Trump stated that the U.S.-Iran negotiations are right on the borderline.

At the White House, Trump stated that the U.S. is against any toll on shipping through the Strait of Hormuz and asserted that Iran cannot retain its nuclear stockpile. However, he stressed that negotiations are going on.

Meanwhile, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated that there are "some good signs" that a deal between the U.S. and Iran could be reached though he cautioned against being "overly optimistic".

Further, citing Al-Arabiya, Iranian media reports suggest that the final draft of a US-Iran peace agreement has reportedly been completed, mediated by Pakistan. An official announcement is expected to come within hours.