Dollar Bulls Grapple With Buyer's Remorse

With President Donald Trump preparing to slap tariffs on Chinese goods as soon as Friday, much of the talk in financial markets is how the outperformance of American equities relative to the rest of the world is a sign investors expect the U.S. to come out ahead in any trade war. After a spurt of strength starting in mid-April, the rally in the Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index has fizzled. The gauge of the greenback’s strength has dropped to its lowest level in three weeks and is little changed from where it was at the end of May. Some might say that the dollar was due for a pause after rallying as much as 6.51 percent since mid-April, but perhaps the reason is also that the currency still faces a stiff headwind in the form of twin budget and current-account deficits. An economic slowdown that a trade war might bring won’t help.