The dollar maintained a soft tone, posting fresh lows against the yen and the pound, while holding above Tuesday lows against the euro and others. The Australian dollar saw intraday weakness before recovering. A degree of caution has crept back in after recent strong gains in world stock markets, which propelled the MSCI World Index to a record peak, though commodities are generally firmer, particularly metals, with aluminium prices, for instance, extending recent solid gains in posting the highest levels seen since late 2018.