During today's Asian trading, the US dollar rose against most of the world's major currencies.

Traders are looking for opportunities for more reliable investments, trying to avoid risks amid fears that the rapid spread of the new COVID-19 "delta" strain will slow down the pace of global economic recovery. An additional factor limiting the risk appetite on world markets is the situation in Afghanistan, experts say. The economy of Afghanistan is small in volume, but other states were caught off guard by how quickly the government of the country fell.

The ICE index, which tracks the dynamics of the dollar against six currencies (euro, swiss franc, yen, canadian dollar, pound sterling and swedish krona), rose by 0.13%.

The Australian dollar fell by 0.7% against the US dollar, and is trading at lows since November 2020 due to fears that the country's economy will be seriously affected as a result of a new wave of lockdowns.

The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) on Tuesday published the minutes of a meeting held earlier this month. According to the document, the heads of RBA noted during the meeting that the new COVID-19 strain "delta" and related restrictive measures suspended the recovery of the country's economy and created serious uncertainty about the prospects for the second half of the year.

At the same time, the RBA leaders noted that the measures already taken by the budget and monetary stimulus are sufficient to mitigate the negative consequences for the economy.