Investing.com - The U.S. dollar advanced on Wednesday after hitting another 13-month high in the previous session as safe-haven demand increased amid lingering concerns over the Turkish lira crisis.
The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of other currencies, rose by 0.18% to 96.72 by 1:30AM ET (05:30 GMT), just below a 13-month peak of 96.794 on Tuesday.
"In light of all the turmoil we've seen out of Turkey and the subsequent contagion into other emerging markets, the dollar is pretty much establishing itself as the safe-haven currency," said Bart Wakabayashi, Tokyo branch manager at State Street Bank.
Turkey President Recep Tayyip Erdogan vowed on Tuesday to boycott iPhones and other American electronics as he condemned the "explicit economic attack" against his country.
The Turkish lira started slipping again after rebounding more than 8 percent overnight, with the USD/TRY pair rose 1.12% to 6.4269. The pair hit an all-time high of 7.24 on Monday.
The lira received some support earlier in the day after Turkey's Finance Minister Berat Albayrak said the country would protect the currency, and that he believed it would strengthen.
The "rebound in the lira gave European banks and other emerging markets some respite. However, it is fair to say that the saga is not over," David Plank, head of Australian economics at ANZ, said in a note.
Elsewhere, the Hong Kong Dollar was in focus as the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) intervened to defend its peg to the dollar for the first time since May after the local currency fell to the weak end of its trading band as the U.S. dollar strengthened amid the Turkey-induced turmoil in emerging markets.
The HKMA purchased HK$2.159 billion ($275 million) on Tuesday, according to the de facto central bank’s page.
The USD/JPY pair edged up 0.08% to 111.25, while the AUD/USD and the NZD/USD pair fell 0.4% and 0.2% respectively on Wednesday.