Dollar struggles for traction as markets weigh Iran sanctions, Treasury buybacks

HONG KONG, Aug 25 : The U.S. dollar struggled to hold onto gains against major peers on Tuesday, as investors parsed Washington's expanded Iran-related sanctions and renewed efforts to ease pressure on longer-dated Treasury yields. The euro was a shade higher at $1.1668, hovering near a three-month peak hit last week, while sterling was 0.1 per cent stronger at $1.3639, near its six-month peak.U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent unveiled an expansion of sanctions against Iran on Monday, and warned countries to cut business ties to Iran or risk being forced out of the dollar-based financial system. "That potentially is one source of a slight reversal of the dollar weakness that we had at the end of last week," Ray Attrill, head of FX strategy at National Australia Bank, said in a podcast.