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Archives: Reuters Articles

Dollar lower as investors reignite ‘Sell America’ trade

Dollar lower as investors reignite ‘Sell America’ trade

NEW YORK – The dollar was set for its largest daily fall in over a month on Tuesday, after White House threats to Europe over the future of Greenland triggered a broad selloff across US stocks and government bonds, and drove the euro and the pound higher.

The dollar index, which measures the US currency’s performance against a basket of six others, fell as much as 0.7% – marking its biggest one-day drop since mid-December – as investors worried about exposure to US markets.

On Monday, US President Donald Trump’s renewed tariff threats against European allies prompted a repeat of the so-called “Sell America” trade that emerged after last year’s “Liberation Day” tariff announcement in April, with stocks, Treasury bonds and the dollar all declining.

Investors were dumping dollar assets on “fears of prolonged uncertainty, strained alliances, a loss of confidence in US leadership, potential retaliation and an acceleration of de-dollarization trends,” said Tony Sycamore, market analyst at IG in Sydney.

“While there are hopes the US administration may soon de-escalate these threats, as it has with prior tariff announcements, it is clear that securing Greenland remains a core national security objective for the current administration,” he added.

The euro was last up 0.57% at USD 1.1711, while the pound gained 0.01% to trade at USD 1.34. Sterling got a minor additional lift earlier in the session from UK labor market data that showed unemployment remained at a five-year high, but also offered positive signs such as vacancy numbers plateauing.

The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite dropped to their lowest points in a month on Tuesday, as investors returned from the US long weekend and reacted negatively to the fresh tariff threats.

The risk-off wave, which also pushed the Dow Jones Industrial Average to its lowest intraday level since January 5, left US Treasuries wobbling under renewed selling pressure.

“We knew that some stock markets like the U.S … were all at elevated, stretched levels. So who knew what the pinprick was going to be? But we found it,” said Marc Chandler, chief market strategist at Bannockburn Capital Markets.

Weekly data from the US markets regulator show investors have trimmed their largest long, or bullish, holdings of euro futures modestly, but that position is still close to its largest since mid-2023, which in theory means there could be appetite to sell.

The yen, which slid overnight as a selloff in Japanese government bond markets accelerated, picked up as European trading got underway, leaving the dollar at 158.280.

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has called snap elections for February 8 and has pledged a wave of measures to loosen fiscal policy, which has unnerved investors in Japanese sovereign bonds about the country’s fragile public finances.

The Swiss franc, a key beneficiary of any safe-haven flows, strengthened for a third straight day, leaving the dollar down 0.88% at 0.7902 francs.

Against the Chinese yuan trading offshore in Hong Kong, the dollar was steady at 6.9576 yuan, its weakest since May 2023. The People’s Bank of China left benchmark lending rates unchanged for an eighth straight month in January, as expected by analysts polled by Reuters.

The Australian dollar was last up 0.27% to USD 0.673, while the New Zealand dollar climbed 0.54% to USD 0.583, its highest level this year.

(Reporting by Hannah Lang in New York; additional reporting by Amanda Cooper in London and Gregor Stuart Hunter; Editing by Andrew Heavens, Emelia Sithole-Matarise, Mark Heinrich, and Andrea Ricci)

 

Dollar at week low as geopolitics revive ‘Sell America’ trade

Dollar at week low as geopolitics revive ‘Sell America’ trade

SINGAPORE – The dollar retreated to its lowest level in a week in early trading on Monday after threats from the White House towards the European Union over the future of Greenland triggered a broad selloff across US stocks and government bonds.

The dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, slid 0.1% to 99.004 – its lowest level since January 14 as investors worried about exposure to US markets.

On Monday, US President Donald Trump’s renewed tariff threats against European allies triggered a repeat of the so-called “Sell America” trade that emerged after last year’s Liberation Day tariff announcement in April, with stocks, Treasury bonds and the dollar all selling off. US markets will return on Tuesday following a public holiday for Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

Investors were dumping dollar assets on “fears of prolonged uncertainty, strained alliances, a loss of confidence in US leadership, potential retaliation and an acceleration of de-dollarization trends,” said Tony Sycamore, market analyst at IG in Sydney.

“While there are hopes the US administration may soon de-escalate these threats, as it has with prior tariff announcements, it is clear that securing Greenland remains a core national security objective for the current administration,” he added.

The yield on the US 10-year Treasury bond was up 3.0 basis points at 4.2586%. Fed funds futures are pricing an implied 94.5% probability that the US central bank will remain on hold at its next two-day meeting next week, little changed from Friday, according to the CME Group’s FedWatch tool.

Against the yen, the dollar was flat at 158.175 yen after Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi called snap elections for February 8. Her vow to suspend an 8% sales tax on food for two years has focused attention on the country’s shaky public finances.

Against the Chinese yuan trading offshore in Hong Kong, the dollar was holding steady at 6.9536 yuan. Later on Tuesday, the People’s Bank of China is expected to leave benchmark lending rates unchanged for an eighth straight month in January, a Reuters survey showed.

The Australian dollar was down 0.1% at USD 0.6710, while the New Zealand dollar slipped 0.1% to USD 0.5794, edging back from a two-week high.

The euro was flat at USD 1.1640, while the British pound was also steady at USD 1.3427.

Bitcoin was off 0.6% at USD 92,336.99, while ether fell 1.1% to USD 3,174.41.

(Reporting by Gregor Stuart Hunter; Editing by Shri Navaratnam)

 

PRECIOUS-Gold and silver hit record highs as Greenland dispute spurs safe-haven buying

PRECIOUS-Gold and silver hit record highs as Greenland dispute spurs safe-haven buying

Gold hits record $4,689.39 an ounce

Silver reaches record peak of $94.10

Dollar slides on trade war risk

Updates prices

By Pablo Sinha

Jan 19 (Reuters) – Gold and silver hit record highs on Monday, driven by a flight to safety after U.S. President Donald Trump warned of extra tariffs on some European countries in a dispute over Greenland.

Spot gold XAU= jumped 1.6% to $4,669.69 an ounce by 10:08 a.m. ET (1508 GMT), after scaling a record peak of $4,689.39.

U.S. gold futures GCcv1 for February delivery advanced 1.7% to $4,675 an ounce.

Trump threatened several European allies with a series of escalating tariffs on Saturday unless the U.S. is allowed to buy Greenland, intensifying a dispute over Denmark’s vast Arctic island.

“When institutional and policy risks resurface, markets tend to react swiftly by reallocating toward safe-haven assets, with gold once again emerging as the preferred choice,” said Linh Tran, senior market analyst at XS.com.

Stock markets and the dollar fell as Trump’s latest tariff threats raised investors’ appetite for safe-haven gold, the Japanese yen and Swiss franc in a broad risk-averse move across markets. MKTS/GLOB USD/

Gold tends to do well during times of geopolitical and economic uncertainty, as well as when interest rates are low. It gained more than 64% in 2025 and is up more than 8% since the start of this year.

Meanwhile, Federal Reserve Vice Chair for Supervision Michelle Bowman said on Friday that a fragile job market with the potential to weaken quickly means the U.S. central bank should stand ready to cut interest rates again if needed.

Markets expect the Fed to leave rates on hold at its meeting over January 27-28 but are pricing in at least two cuts of 25 basis points this year. FEDWATCH

Elsewhere, spot silver XAG= climbed 4.4% to $93.93 an ounce after hitting a record high of $94.10. Silver has risen more than 31% since the start of the year.

Analysts at Citi Research said they remain tactically bullish on precious metals, setting price targets of $5,000 an ounce for gold and $100 an ounce for silver in the next three months, citing geopolitical tensions that are likely to stay elevated in the near term.

In other metals, spot platinum XPT= added 2% to $2,374.85 an ounce while palladium XPD= rose 1.2% to $1,820.50.

Gold vs Dollar over past month https://tmsnrt.rs/49KBYSq

(Reporting by Pablo Sinha in Bengaluru
Additional reporting by Sarah Qureshi
Editing by Alexander Smith and David Goodman)

((Pablo.Sinha@thomsonreuters.com;))

UPDATE 7-Oil steadies as Iran supply fears ease and Greenland moves into spotlight

UPDATE 7-Oil steadies as Iran supply fears ease and Greenland moves into spotlight

Iran unrest subsides, lowering risk of US attack

Greenland sovereignty dispute affecting US-Europe relations

Trading activity muted due to US public holiday

Updates prices; adds new commentary in paragraph 9

By Amanda Stephenson

CALGARY, Jan 19 (Reuters) – Oil prices steadied on Monday as civil unrest in Iran subsided, reducing the likelihood of a U.S. attack that could disrupt supplies from the major producer, while market-watchers turned their attention to a stand-off over Greenland.

Brent crude LCOc1 was up one cent, or 0.02%, at $64.14 a barrel by 1946 GMT. West Texas Intermediate CLc1 for February was flat on the previous day’s settlement at $59.44 a barrel.

Trading activity was muted due to a U.S. federal holiday.

Iran’s violent crackdown has quelled protests that officials say killed 5,000 people. U.S. President Donald Trump, meanwhile, seems to have stepped back from earlier threats of intervention.

“With fears around Iran subsiding over the last few days after rumours of a U.S. attack, the market is now focusing on the Greenland situation and how deep any fallout between the U.S. and Europe could be, as any trade war expansion could impact demand,” said Rystad analyst Janiv Shah.

Trump has intensified his push to wrest sovereignty over Greenland from fellow NATO member Denmark, threatening punitive tariffs on countries that stand in his way and prompting the European Union to weigh hitting back with its own measures.

EU leaders will convene in Brussels on Thursday for an emergency summit, a European Union spokesperson said on Monday.

As Greenland does not produce oil, there is no direct connection for crude markets, said Commodity Context founder Rory Johnston. But the row over the island is a broadly risk-off development for investors, he said, pointing to Monday’s selloff in equity markets.

Global stocks dropped and the dollar eased against the safe-haven yen and Swiss franc on Monday on concerns about a possible trade war between the U.S. and Europe.

The market was also looking at the risk of damage to Russian infrastructure and distillate supplies at a time when colder weather is forecast to cross North America and Europe, adding to market unease, said PVM Oil Associates analyst John Evans.

In the longer term, the crude market will continue to face downward pressure from an increase in Venezuelan oil on the U.S. Gulf Coast, while a new forecast from the International Monetary Fund predicting stronger economic growth in 2026 should increase demand expectations, said Phil Flynn, senior analyst for the Price Futures Group.

“The market is going to be locked in by competing bullish and bearish forces, leading to a sort of sideways trade,” Flynn said.

(Reporting by Amanda Stephenson in Calgary, Robert Harvey and Seher Dareen in London, Mohi Narayan in New Delhi and Colleen Howe in Beijing; Editing by Kirsten Donovan, David Goodman and Edmund Klamann)

((amanda.stephenson@thomsonreuters.com))

Dollar under pressure, safe havens rise as Trump ups tariff ante over Greenland

Dollar under pressure, safe havens rise as Trump ups tariff ante over Greenland

SINGAPORE – The dollar fell on Monday and investors unnerved by US President Donald Trump’s latest tariff threats against Europe over Greenland piled into the safe-haven yen and Swiss franc, in a broad risk-averse move across markets.

Trump said over the weekend he would impose an additional 10% import tariff from February 1 on goods from Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Finland, and Britain, until the United States is allowed to buy Greenland.

Major European Union states decried the tariff threats over Greenland as blackmail on Sunday, with France proposing to respond with a range of previously untested economic countermeasures.

In the foreign exchange market, the initial knee-jerk reaction in early Asia trade was to sell the euro EUR= and sterling, in a move that pushed them to a seven-week low and one-month trough of USD 1.1572 and USD 1.3321, respectively.

However, the two currencies bounced from their lows, and it was the dollar that came under pressure as the trading day got underway, as investors assessed the longer-term implications of Trump’s latest move on the greenback’s standing.

That helped the euro reverse its losses as it gained 0.17% to trade at USD 1.1618, while the British pound similarly recovered 0.1% to USD 1.3387.

“Typically you would think tariffs being threatened would lead to a weaker euro, but as we’ve seen last year as well, when the Liberation Day tariffs were getting put in place, the impact in FX markets actually has been more towards dollar weakness every time there is heightened policy uncertainty emanating from the US,” said Khoon Goh, head of Asia research at ANZ.

Investors had dumped the dollar in the wake of last April’s “Liberation Day” announcement when Trump unveiled sweeping tariffs on the world, triggering a crisis of confidence in US assets.

A similar trend played out on Monday, as the greenback slid 0.24% against the safe-haven Swiss franc to 0.7989, and was down 0.31% to 157.63 yen.

The dollar index was little changed at 99.17.

“While you would argue that the tariffs threaten Europe, in fact, it’s actually the dollar that is bearing the brunt of it, because I think markets are pricing in increased political risk premia on the US dollar,” said Goh.

Elsewhere, the risk-sensitive Australian dollar was down 0.12% to USD 0.6683, with its losses capped by the broad dollar weakness.

The New Zealand dollar rose 0.06% to USD 0.5755.

Cryptocurrencies, which are often used as a gauge of risk sentiment, were meanwhile sold off heavily.

Bitcoin was down nearly 3% to a one-week low of USD 92,501.38, while ether sank more than 4% to USD 3,185.98.

(Reporting by Rae Wee; Editing by Shri Navaratnam and Michael Perry)

US yields climb, poised for weekly rise as investors gauge economic strength

US yields climb, poised for weekly rise as investors gauge economic strength

NEW YORK – US Treasury yields rose on Friday and were on pace for a weekly advance as investors weigh recent economic data and the path of interest rates from the Federal Reserve in the near term.

Yields have been choppy throughout the week and have remained in a tight range as markets have grappled with a revelation by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell that the central bank had been threatened with a criminal indictment over a building renovation project, rising tensions in the Middle East, and US economic data on the labor market and inflation.

In addition, several Fed officials this week expressed a need for the central bank to remain cautious in cutting interest rates.

“The bond market’s still relatively unclear as to where things go next, there’s lots of uncertainty really in both directions, both towards higher and lower yields,” said Gennadiy Goldberg, head of US rates strategy at TD Securities in New York.

“The driving force is still very much what happens to the Fed and what happens to the economy going forward, and on that, there’s just an extreme lack of clarity from investors, so that’s why we’ve been stuck in that very, very tight range in rates.”

The yield on the benchmark US 10-year Treasury note rose 4.3 basis points to 4.203% and was up 3.4 basis points for the week.

The yield on the 30-year bond rose 1.8 basis points to 4.804% and has shed 1.2 basis points on the week, putting it on track for a second straight weekly decline.

Yields moved higher after President Donald Trump on Friday praised economic adviser Kevin Hassett at a White House event and said he may want to keep him in his current role, denting market expectations he would succeed Fed Chair Jerome Powell.

Fed officials expected to speak on Friday include Bank of Boston President Susan Collins, Vice Chair for Supervision Michelle Bowman and Vice Chair Philip Jefferson.

The two-year US Treasury yield, which typically moves in step with interest rate expectations for the Fed, rose 4.7 basis points to 3.611% after hitting a five-week high of 3.613% and is set for a second straight weekly gain.

Economic data on Friday showed manufacturing output rose 0.2% last month after an upwardly revised 0.3% gain in November, the Federal Reserve said, topping the estimate of economists polled by Reuters calling for a decline of 0.2%.

A separate report showed the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market index dropped 2 points to 37 in January, remaining below the 50 break-even point for 21 straight months as affordability concerns stymied potential buyers and rising costs dented construction activity.

A closely watched part of the US Treasury yield curve measuring the gap between yields on two- and 10-year Treasury notes, seen as an indicator of economic expectations, was at a positive 59 basis points.

The breakeven rate on five-year US Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities (TIPS) was last at 2.396%, its highest since November 10, after closing at 2.368% on Thursday.

The 10-year TIPS breakeven rate was last at 2.317%, indicating the market sees inflation averaging about 2.3% a year for the next decade.

(Reporting by Chuck Mikolajczak in New York; Editing by Matthew Lewis)

 

Gold falls over 1% as profit‑taking, easing geopolitical risks weigh

Gold falls over 1% as profit‑taking, easing geopolitical risks weigh

Gold fell more than 1% on Friday as investors booked profits after recent record highs, while signs of easing geopolitical tensions further dampened the metal’s safe-haven appeal.

Spot gold was down 0.5% at USD 4,592.29 per ounce as of 01:39 p.m. ET (1839 GMT), after falling as low as USD 4,536.49 earlier in the session.

However, the metal is poised for its second consecutive weekly gain, of about 1.9%, after scaling a record peak of USD 4,642.72 on Wednesday.

US gold futures for February delivery settled 0.6% lower at USD 4,595.40.

“It’s a general retreat in the commodity complex after weeks of aggressive gains, with some profit-taking. The de-escalation of Middle East tensions has also removed some of the geopolitical premium in gold and other metals, especially silver,” said Marex analyst Edward Meir.

Geopolitical tensions appeared to ease as protests in Iran subsided, while US President Donald Trump took a wait-and-see approach and Russia’s President Vladimir Putin moved to mediate in Iran and de-escalate the situation.

On the trade front, the US and Taiwan struck a deal on Thursday that lowers tariffs on many of Taiwan’s semiconductor exports and channels new investments into US tech, and risks infuriating China.

Meanwhile, the Federal Reserve is expected to keep rates unchanged through the first half of the year, with a first 25-basis-point cut projected in June, as per data compiled by LSEG.

Safe-haven gold tends to do well during times of geopolitical and economic uncertainty, as well as when interest rates are low.

“I still think we have a chance of getting to USD 5,000 sometime this year, punctuated with these big corrections in the meantime,” Meir said.

Spot silver shed 2.9% to USD 89.65 per ounce, although it was headed for a weekly gain of over 12% after hitting an all-time high of USD 93.57 in the previous session.

JP Morgan said in a note on Friday that mounting risks from loosening ex‑US supply and ETF outflows to softer industrial demand and tighter Chinese trading curbs leave silver vulnerable to a sharp correction.

Spot platinum dropped 3.3% to USD 2,330.67 per ounce and headed for a weekly gain, while palladium lost 0.6% to USD 1,790.78 per ounce.

(Reporting by Anmol Choubey in Bengaluru, Editing by Louise Heavens, and Alan Barona)

 

Japanese yen rebounds from 18-month low against dollar

Japanese yen rebounds from 18-month low against dollar

NEW YORK – The Japanese yen rebounded from an 18-month low against the dollar on Wednesday as Japanese officials warned of potential intervention to shore up the currency, while the US currency was modestly stronger against the euro as traders continued to evaluate likely Federal Reserve policy.

The yen has tumbled on concerns about looser fiscal and monetary policy as speculation rises that Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi will call an early snap election, a move that could delay parliamentary approval of a bill that grants the government the right to issue deficit-covering bonds.

“Takaichi’s plan to leverage her astonishingly high personal ratings in calling a snap election is translating into a rise in bets on reflation in the Japanese economy, more government spending and higher yields,” said Karl Schamotta, chief market strategist at Corpay in Toronto. “All of that is translating into downward pressure on the yen, which of course is being offset by intervention threats from authorities.”

YEN WEAKNESS OVERDONE?

Japanese Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama issued another verbal warning on Wednesday, saying officials would take “appropriate action against excessive FX moves without excluding any options.”

So far, however, officials have not indicated that an intervention is likely in the very near term.

“It would come as a little bit of a surprise to markets since recent commentary hasn’t conveyed much urgency,” said James Lord, global head of FX & EM strategy at Morgan Stanley.

Some also see weakness in the yen as having moved too far.

Analysts at LMAX Group note that from a technical perspective, “there are signs of a meaningful top in place after the market put in a multi-year high in 2024.”

From a fundamental perspective, “speculative yen longs have been largely unwound, leaving room for fresh short positioning if USD/JPY breaks higher through 160, though rising intervention warnings from Japanese officials add two-way risk,” they said in a report.

The yen strengthened 0.43% against the greenback to 158.46 per dollar. It earlier reached 159.45, the weakest since July 2024.

The dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of currencies including the yen and the euro, fell 0.06% to 99.13, with the euro down 0.03% at USD 1.1637.

FEDERAL RESERVE EXPECTED TO HOLD RATES

The dollar has benefited in recent weeks from rising expectations that the Fed will keep rates on hold for the next several months.

That was further boosted after data on Friday showed that the unemployment rate dipped to 4.4% in December.

Morgan Stanley pushed back its expectations for rate cuts to June and September, from January and April, after Friday’s jobs data.

“Up until now we have been quite focused on the labor market, but with the reduction in the unemployment rate we think it’s going to be difficult for that to be the driver of any near-term cuts,” Lord said.

“That arguably reduces the case for the dollar to weaken in the way that we’ve been expecting so far this year. But at the same time, I do think a lot of the uncertainty that’s been injected into the Fed debate given recent events is pushing in the other direction,” Lord added.

Concerns about Fed independence have increased as the Justice Department undertakes a criminal investigation into Fed Chair Jerome Powell in relation to a building renovation.

Powell called the investigation a “pretext” for the White House to gain more influence over interest rates, which US President Donald Trump wants cut dramatically.

The dollar was little changed on data on Wednesday showing that US producer prices picked up slightly in November amid a surge in the cost of gasoline, while US retail sales increased more than expected in November.

The Fed’s “Beige Book” also showed that economic activity increased in most parts of the United States and employment was mostly unchanged in recent weeks.

Traders remain focused on rising geopolitical tensions.

Iran has warned neighbors hosting US troops that it would hit American bases if the United States strikes, a senior Iranian official told Reuters on Wednesday, as Iran seeks to deter Trump’s threats to intervene on behalf of protesters.

In cryptocurrencies, bitcoin gained 3.58% to USD 97,428.

(Reporting by Karen Brettell; Additional reporting by Gregor Stuart Hunter, Amanda Cooper, Rod Nickel, and Will Dunham)

 

US oil prices dip more than USD 1 as Trump remarks reduce fears about Iran

US oil prices dip more than USD 1 as Trump remarks reduce fears about Iran

TOKYO – US oil prices fell more than USD 1 in early Asian trade on Thursday after US President Donald Trump said killings in Iran’s crackdown on nationwide protests were subsiding, easing fears of supply disruptions and possible military action against Iran.

US West Texas Intermediate crude futures were trading at USD 60.78 a barrel at 2322 GMT, down USD 1.24, or 2%, from the previous day’s close.

WTI had settled more than 1% higher on Wednesday, then gave back most of those gains after Trump’s remarks reduced concerns over a potential US attack on Iran and supply disruptions.

Trump said on Wednesday afternoon that he had been told that killings in Iran’s crackdown on nationwide protests were subsiding and he believed there was currently no plan for large-scale executions.

(Reporting by Yuka Obayashi; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)

 

Dollar rebounds with CPI data in line, bankers back Powell

Dollar rebounds with CPI data in line, bankers back Powell

SINGAPORE – The US dollar recovered ground to near a one-month high in early Asian trade on Wednesday after US CPI data that was broadly in line with estimates, firming up expectations that the Federal Reserve will remain on hold later this month despite unprecedented pressure from the White House to lower interest rates.

The US dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, was last up 0.3% at 99.18, retracing losses from Monday after US President Donald Trump threatened Fed Chair Jerome Powell with a criminal indictment.

Global central bank chiefs and top Wall Street bank CEOs lined up in support of Powell on Tuesday.

“There’s a very loud chorus of opinion coming from politicians, former Fed chairmen and other officials that Fed independence is sacrosanct and cannot be interfered with,” said Brian Martin, head of G3 Economics at ANZ in London.

“It risks having adverse consequences of higher inflation, higher funding costs for the government and more volatility in economic activity,” he said on a podcast.

“Markets are erring on the side of caution: They’re not jumping to conclusions, and I think that sense will prevail and that the independence of the Fed will be protected.”

On Tuesday, data showed US consumer prices increased 0.3% in December compared to the previous month, lifted by higher costs for rents and food as some of the distortions related to the government shutdown that had artificially lowered inflation in November unwound.

The print cemented expectations the Federal Reserve would leave interest rates unchanged this month, with Fed funds futures currently pricing an implied 95.6% probability that the US central bank will remain on hold when its next two-day meeting concludes on 28 January, unchanged from a day earlier, according to the CME Group’s FedWatch tool.

“Indirect attacks on the Fed’s independence aren’t likely to roil the financial markets in the US, so long as inflation there remains under control,” wrote analysts from Capital Economics.

Volatility in most currency pairs was subdued in early Asian trading ahead of a possible Supreme Court ruling on the legality of Trump’s emergency tariffs.

“It could rule them legit, and if so we just move on. We suspect they will be struck down, and we’ll probably still just move on,” analysts from ING wrote in a research report.

“This Treasury market is showing a remarkable capacity to just not care too much about stuff.”

Against the yen, the US dollar was last flat at 159.025 yen, little changed after the Reuters Tankan poll showed Japanese manufacturers’ confidence slipped to a six-month low in January, albeit still in positive territory.

The yen had earlier fallen to its weakest levels since January 2024 on speculation that Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi may call parliamentary elections to consolidate her power.

The Yomiuri newspaper reported on Wednesday that she is considering snap lower house elections on February 8.

Against the Chinese yuan trading offshore in Hong Kong, the US dollar was last flat at 6.9708 yuan ahead of the release of Chinese trade data for December in a few hours’ time.

The Australian dollar was last up 0.1% at USD 0.6688, while the New Zealand dollar nudged 0.1% upwards to USD 0.5740.

The euro was last flat at USD 1.1642, while the British pound also held steady at USD 1.3423.

Bitcoin gained 1.8% to USD 95,751.99, rising to the highest level in two months, while ether was last up 4.0% at USD 3,334.46.

(Reporting by Gregor Stuart Hunter; Editing by Stephen Coates)

 

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