Dollar Fluctuates Ahead of Trump’s Tariff Announcement

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The U.S. dollar remained just below a three-week high on Monday as traders waited for more clarity on President Donald Trump's upcoming tariffs. The dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, was flat at 104.03 after reaching 104.22 on Friday, its highest since March 7. The index rose 0.4% last week, marking its first gain this month.

While the dollar has faced pressure this year, as markets initially expected pro-growth policies from Trump, concerns over his aggressive trade tactics have raised fears of a potential recession. The next round of tariffs is set for April 2, when the White House will announce reciprocal tariffs on various countries. Analysts at Goldman Sachs have revised their dollar forecasts, predicting some dollar strength despite downgrading U.S. growth due to expected tariff increases.

The yen weakened against the dollar, falling to 149.77 yen as U.S. Treasury yields rose by 2.5 basis points to 4.2770%. The euro gained 0.24% to $1.0836, recovering slightly from a near three-week low of $1.0795 on Friday. Last week, the euro reached its highest since early October at $1.0955, buoyed by optimism over Germany's fiscal changes. However, analysts expect the euro to give back some of its recent gains now that Germany has passed the debt brake bill, signaling that significant spending increases may take time.

Sterling rose 0.15% to $1.2934, and the Australian dollar climbed 0.29% to $0.6291. Bitcoin rose by around 1%, reaching $85,965.

Meanwhile, the Turkish lira remained steady at 38.0050 per dollar, despite a Turkish court jailing Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu on graft charges. Imamoglu, President Erdogan's main political rival, denies the charges. The lira briefly hit a record low of 42 per dollar last week after the Turkish central bank raised its overnight lending rate to 46% and suspended one-week repo auctions, signaling a tighter policy stance.

Paraphrasing text from "Reuters" all rights reserved by the original author