Yahoo Finance Forex- U.S. Dollar Struggles to Maintain Headway
Investing.com - The U.S. dollar was higher against a basket of other currencies on Thursday but struggled for momentum as fears of a potential global trade war surfaced.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, rose 0.20% to 89.46,as of 12:27 PM ET (16:27 GMT), above its overnight low of 89.04.
U.S. President Donald Trump is expected to announce $60 billion on Thursday in tariffs on Chinese imports directed at its technology sector and aimed at curbing the theft of U.S. technology.
China is already preparing to retaliate with tariffs focused on U.S. exports of soybeans, sorghum and live hogs. The news has prompted fresh fears of a global trade war. Trump has already imposed tariffs on steel and aluminum imports but has exempt the European Union, Mexico, Canada and five other countries in order to negotiate new trade agreements.
The dollar was lower after the Federal Reserve raised interest rates by 25 basis points on Wednesday. In its forecast it predicted two more rate hikes this year.
The decision to stick to its forecast of two rate hikes was seen as less hawkish than expected, which weighed on the dollar.
The dollar was near two-week lows against the safe haven yen, with USD/JPY losing 0.43% to trade at 105.59
The euro was lower after data showed that euro zone private sector activity slowed for the second month in March. EUR/USD was down 0.29% to 1.2302.
Meanwhile GBP/USD dipped 0.30% to 1.4098 after surging to a one month high when the Bank of England left interest rates unchanged.
Elsewhere, the Australian dollar was weaker, with AUD/USD falling 0.75% at 0.7706, while NZD/USD inched down 0.07% to 0.7222.
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