The theme of a weak US dollar continued to dominate the Forex market this week as the currency remained vulnerable due to a range of factors.
The week started positively for the greenback as the US government reopened after a shutdown. Yet that did not last long, and the currency slumped after US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin suggested that a weak dollar would be beneficial to the US economy. President Donald Trump tried to soothe the reaction to the comments, saying that he would prefer a stronger dollar, and the currency rebounded for a short while. But that bounce did not last long either, and the currency got another blow from the slower-than-expected growth of gross domestic product.
The Japanese yen was relatively strong after the Bank of Japan meeting as markets ignored attempts of BoJ Governor Haruhiko Kuroda to talk down the currency. Kuroda was not the only central banker to be ignored by markets as the Swiss franc was extremely firm despite comments from Swiss National Bank Chairman Thomas Jordan that the franc is overvalued and the SNB may intervene to weaken the currency. Meanwhile, the Great Britain pound remained supported by hopes for a good Brexit deal.
EUR/USD rose from 1.2269 to 1.2420 over the week, touching the weekly high of 1.2530. GBP/USD gained from 1.3892 to 1.4157, and its high was at 1.4344. USD/JPY dropped 1.8% from 110.56 to 108.60. USD/CHF slumped by as much as 2.9% from 0.9608 to 0.9333.
If you have any questions, comments or opinions regarding the US Dollar,
feel free to post them using the commentary form below.