By Gina Lee

Investing.com – The dollar was up on Thursday morning in Asia, but traded near the low end of its recent range along with the Japanese yen. Due to holiday-thinned trade and concerns over the omicronCOVID-19 variant, however, movements remained modest.

At 10:43 pm ET (03:43 GMT), The Greenback Index, which measures its value against a basket other currencies, increased by 0.01%. It was at 95.935. Rising U.S. Treasury yields supported the U.S. dollar, reaching 1.56% Wednesday (the highest level since November 20, 2021).

After falling to a low of 115.03 Wednesday, the pair gained 0.08% to 115.03.

This pair edged up by 0.19% at 0.7261, and was up by 0.22% at 0.6845.

Both the pair grew by 0.02% to 6.3692, and 0.04% respectively to 1.3491.

While investors have increased their risk appetite, many countries are refraining from placing lockdowns despite the rising number of COVID-19-related cases around the world as omicron spreads. According to Johns Hopkins University data, the number of cases worldwide exceeded 284 millions as of December 30, 2012.

“The dollar resumed its retreat overnight as markets continue to price in finishing omicron fears thanks to low hospitalizations,” Oanda senior market analyst for Asia Pacific Jeffrey Halley told Reuters.

“That has encouraged investors out of defensive positioning and back into the global recovery trade.”

Other investors cautioned against overinterpreting the movements as there were few trades at the end 2021.

“In times like these we trade very technically as short-term jobbers try to eek out some final year-end gains,” Brad Bechtel, global head of FX at Jefferies, said in a note.

After falling 6.9% Wednesday, the emerging market currency was trading at 11.2 dollars. While the lira lost 40% in 2021, its value has risen more than 50% thanks to government-backed market interventions.

Turkish finance minister Nureddin Nebati stated Wednesday that swings in the Lira weren’t worrying and it would resume normal levels.

Bitcoin fell for the third consecutive session in cryptocurrencies to $46,200.