SINGAPORE/LONDON—The dollar started the week on the back foot, hitting a seven-month low against a basket of major peers in Asian trade, with the yen in particular focus as traders ramped up bets the Bank of Japan will tweak its yield control policy further.
The euro hit a fresh nine-month top of $1.0874 in early trade before retreating to $1.0861, down 0.16 percent by 0920 GMT, while the Australian dollar breached the key $0.7000 level for the first time since August, before dipping back to $0.6959.
Thanks also to early strength from sterling and the Japanese yen, the dollar index, which tracks the U.S. unit against a basket of currencies, slumped to a seven-month trough of 101.77, extending its selloff from last week after data showed that U.S consumer prices fell for the first time in more than 2–1/2 years in December….