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The yen rose against the dollar and the euro on Friday, driven by rising Sino-American tensions after the closure of an American consulate in China.

Around 7:00 p.m. GMT (9:00 p.m. in Paris), the yen gained 0.79% against the dollar, at 106.02 yen for one dollar, and 0.43% against the euro, at 123.40 yen for one euro.

The Japanese currency, traditionally considered a safe haven, was benefiting from "rising geopolitical tensions between China and the West", explained Lee Hardman, analyst for MUFG.

China on Friday ordered the closure of the US consulate in Chengdu, hitting back at the United States three days after Washington's decision to close the Chinese consulate in Houston, with the two powers trading espionage charges.

Sino-US tensions, already fueled by trade disputes and mutual accusations over the origin of Covid-19, have escalated in recent weeks with Beijing's imposition of a national security law in Hong Kong. Kong.

For its part, the greenback fell by 0.36% against the single European currency, trading at 1.1636 dollars for one euro.

The dollar index, which measures the value of the American currency against a basket of other currencies, was at its lowest in nearly two years.

For Ricardo Evangelista of ActivTrade, "the deterioration of the health crisis in the United States, (especially compared to Europe) has forced some states that had reopened the doors of businesses to backtrack and cast doubts on the country's ability to ensure a rapid economic recovery."

In addition, investors took note of the growth of private activity in the euro zone, which rose in July for the first time since February, according to the first estimate of the composite PMI index from the firm Markit.

It even reached 54.8 points, its highest level in two years.

This figure "is really good and shows that the budgetary and monetary measures are helping the recovery", reacted Naeem Aslam, analyst for Avatrade.

                    Friday class Thursday class

                        7:00 p.m. GMT 9:00 p.m. GMT

EUR/USD 1.1638 1.1596

EUR/JPY 123.40 123.92

EUR/CHF 1.0733 1.0731

EUR/GBP 0.9100 0.9102

USD/JPY 106.02 106.86

USD/CHF 0.9222 0.9254

GBP/USD 1.2790 1.2741