Dollar higher

TOKYO: The dollar hovered near a three-week high against the yen on Tuesday after U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un signed a "comprehensive" letter at a historic summit aimed at the denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula. Trump said the meeting in Singapore had gone "better than anybody could have expected" and he anticipated that the denuclearisation process would start "very, very quickly".

The meeting, a key event for world markets, came just months after they traded insults and tensions spiralled in the region over North Korea´s nuclear and missile programmes as it raced toward the goal of developing a nuclear-tipped missile capable of hitting the United States.

The U.S. currency rose to as high as 110.495 yen, its strongest since May 23. The dollar´s rise against the yen, a perceived safe haven often sought in times of political tensions and market turmoil, reflected optimism that the Trump-Kim summit would open the door to the eventual denuclearisation of North Korea. The greenback was last up 0.3 percent at 110.390 yen, nudged off highs after news that White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow suffered a heart attack.

The U.S. currency was not quite able to muster the momentum to stretch its gains as the markets waited for further details of the Trump-Kim meeting.