Daily Market Update

FOREX-Dollar retreats from one-year high after Trump comments

July 19, 2018

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The dollar fell from a one-year peak on Thursday after U.S. President Donald Trump expressed concern about a strong currency, which he said puts the United States at a disadvantage.

The greenback also gave back some of its gains against the Chinese yuan, which had earlier dropped to a one-year low against the dollar.

In an interview with CNBC, Trump said a strong dollar “puts us at a disadvantage,” adding that the Chinese yuan “has been dropping like a rock.”

A strong currency tends to make a country’s exports more expensive.

Trump’s comment “creates friction that creates gridlock all across the governmental environment. That’s obviously a solid sign that the dollar could face some weakness ahead,” said Juan Perez, senior foreign exchange trader at Monex Consulting in Washington.

“This is a brand new variable that we have to account for,” he added.

This is not the first time that Trump voiced his displeasure with a strong dollar. He told the Wall Street Journal on three separate occasions last year that the dollar was “too strong.”

Following his remarks, the dollar index, a gauge of its value against a basket of six major currencies, fell 0.1 percent to 94.9552, after earlier touching a one-year high at 95.652.

The dollar fell to a one-week low vs the yen, last trading down 0.6 percent at 112.55 yen.

The euro, meanwhile, fell 0.2 percent against the U.S. dollar to $1.1665.

The dollar also cut gains against the yuan in the early afternoon session, and was last at 6.774 yuan, still up 0.4 percent on the day.

So far this year, the yuan has weakened roughly 4.0 percent versus the U.S. dollar.

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