The U.S. dollar subsequently fell down from a much stronger yen, following the support from U.S. President Donald Trump whom helped the currency rise from its previous decline. Trump stated on Thursday that the greenback was much stronger.
The dollar was slightly down against yen’s 109.000 after crouching to a low of 108.920 for five-months. So far this week, it had loss 1.8 percent along with the safe haven Japanese greenback already on a non-bearish foundation due to the rising geopolitical uncertainties. This includes a likely military action by the United States against North Korea and Syria. In addition, the upcoming presidential election in France was also on watch.
The moment when President Trump said to the Wall Street Journal “the dollar is getting too strong” and that he would suggest the Federal Reserve to extend lower interest rates, the dollar rapidly fell. The remarks served as a reminder of Trump’s protectionist trade rhetoric, which had been the root of dollar bulls concern.
Senior strategist in Barclays in Tokyo Shin Kodata says the comments of Trump were just on time when some had started to think that the president wasn’t supportive enough of a sluggish dollar as originally seen, he added that Trump repeated his beliefs that a firm currency would likely hurt the aggressiveness of United States.
In addition to the dollars deterioration, it got surpassed against the Swiss franc and pound which made the dollar index 0.6 percent down at 100.100. The euro was just stable at $1.0669. The Aussie dollar, however, took advantage of the dollar’s drop as it was given enough breathing space.