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Investing.com-- Most Asian currencies moved in a flat-to-low range on Monday, while the dollar fell slightly amid heightened uncertainty over U.S.-China trade relations and President Donald Trump’s tariff policies.
The dollar was also pressured by comments from Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller, that he remained open to cutting interest rates later this year.
Weak Chinese purchasing managers index data also dampened sentiment, although mainland Chinese markets were closed for a holiday, limiting regional trading volumes.
Markets were also rattled by Trump stating that he will double his tariffs on steel and aluminum imports to 50%.
The Japanese yen benefited from safe haven demand amid heightened risk-aversion, with focus also on ongoing high-level trade talks between Tokyo and Washington. The USD/JPY pair fell 0.1%
Chinese yuan weak amid trade tensions, soft PMIs
While Chinese markets were closed, the yuan’s offshore USD/CNH pair rose 0.2%, reflecting some weakness in the yuan.
China “firmly rejected” Trump’s accusations that the country violated a recent trade deal signed in Geneva, Switzerland, and said it will continue to safeguard its interests.
The rebuke came after Trump and his administration over the weekend alleged that the country had violated some aspects of the agreement, although they did not specify just what.
While the two did agree to drastically reduce their respective trade tariffs against each other in May, Beijing and Washington have still maintained a mostly abrasive rhetoric towards each other. China has repeatedly criticized U.S. controls on its chip industry in recent weeks, while the U.S. has decried China’s export restrictions on rare earth materials.
Sentiment towards China was also dented by weak Chinese purchasing managers index data, which highlighted the trade headwinds faced by the Chinese economy. Manufacturing activity shrank for a second straight month, while non-manufacturing activity underwhelmed.
Dollar soft as Fed’s Waller talks rate cuts
The dollar index and dollar index futures fell about 0.1% each in Asian trade, after the Fed’s Waller said the central bank still remained open to cutting interest rates later this year, especially if inflation cooled and the labor market remained strong.
Waller also said that trade tariffs were likely to have limited inflationary effects, especially if U.S. tariffs settled on the lower end of expectations.
But Waller warned that tariff uncertainty still remained, while noting that a recent sell-off in U.S. Treasuries did reflect some uncertainty over U.S. debt and the economy.
The Fed has so far remained non-committal to any more rate cuts, citing heightened economic and tariff uncertainty.
Broader Asian currencies moved in a flat-to-low range. The Indian rupee’s USD/INR pair fell 0.1% after substantially stronger-than-expected gross domestic product data for the March quarter, which helped improve sentiment towards the world’s fourth-largest economy.
The South Korean won’s USD/KRW pair was an outlier, falling 0.4% before a snap presidential election to be held later this week, which traders bet will help settle increased political uncertainty in the country.
The Singapore dollar’s USD/SGD pair was flat, while the Australian dollar’s AUD/USD pair rose 0.3%