The dollar dropped in Asian trade on Monday along with the euro achieving its highest levels since December as investors locked in gains on the dollar’s recent rise as they stand by for details of U.S. President Donald Trump’s policies.
The euro went up 0.4 percent on the day to $1.07400 after rising $1.07460 earlier. The dollar index also went down 0.4 percent to 11.37.
Bart Wakabayashi, head of Hong Kong FX sales at State Street Global Markets said that “The dollar is being sold off pretty aggressively, with the euro at the highs. It's across-the-board dollar selling, not just the risk on/risk off trade”
“It seems to be driven by uncertainty right now, and Trump's inauguration speech has led the way there,” he added.
After a sharp rally following Trump's November election that propelled it 3 percent higher for the month, the dollar gave up some of those gains against a backdrop of uncertainty surrounding the new president's policies, as well as his recent remarks about the impact of dollar strength.
“America first” is one of Trump’s policies that were short on specific proposals leading to disappointed investors hoping for detail on his plans to stimulate growth and reduce taxes.
His inauguration was followed a day later by coordinated protests in U.S. cities that attracted hundreds of thousands of demonstrators.
Against the “safe-haven” yen, the greenback went down 1 percent to 113.55.
Kaneo Ogino, director at foreign exchange research in Global-info Co in Tokyo said that “Trump hasn't said anything new and hasn't done anything yet, so people wait and see.”
"We have to see what kind of policies he actually follows."
The pound was up 0.3 percent trading at $1.2417 recovering from last week’s volatile trade.