The dollar surged and government bonds rallied on Monday, while stock markets tumbled, as traders considered the prospect of further aggressive interest rate rises in the US and intensifying recession risk in Europe.
The dollar index, which tracks the US currency against six others and has a large euro weighting, rose 1.2 per cent to a fresh 20-year high. That ascent helped to push the euro closer to parity with the greenback, with Europe’s common currency dropping as much as 1.5 per cent to $1.0032 — approaching a level not seen for nearly two decades.
The Japanese yen also fell to a fresh 24-year low against the dollar of ¥137.75 before strengthening slightly.