U.S. dollar retreats against majors, up 1.8% against Russian ruble

The U.S. dollar eased on Thursday amid a global shift to defensive assets as investors feared further turmoil after news that a Malaysian passenger jet had been shot down in Ukraine.

A Malaysia Airlines plane crashed in eastern Ukraine on Thursday, killing all 295 people aboard and sharply raising the stakes in a conflict between Kiev and pro-Moscow rebels in which Russia and the West back opposing sides.

Before news of the disaster, investors had already boosted the Japanese yen to a five-month high against the euro after the West imposed more economic sanctions on Russia.

An index that measures the dollar against a basket of six other leading currencies traded tightly throughout the day and last was off 0.05 percent at 80.517, but still near a one-month high touched on Wednesday.

The dollar was also hurt by a fall in U.S. Treasury yields. 10-year Treasury yields fell 7.3 basis points to 2.453%.

However, the U.S. dollar was up around 1.8% against the ruble at 35.216 rubles, the highest since June 4. Most of the greenback’s gains came after the reported crash of the Malaysia Airlines plane near the Russian border.

It was off 0.01 percent against the euro at 1.35245. Against the yen, the dollar was down 0.42 percent at 101.221 yen. As of 07:00 p.m. ET

The euro weakened against the yen to 136.880 yen, its lowest since early February, and last traded at 136.911 yen, off 0.40 percent on the day.

German Bunds, another safe-haven asset in times of turmoil, were in high demand as the United States slapped sanctions on some major Russian companies including its biggest oil group and largest independent natural gas producer.