The US dollar today plummeted to new lows today after the US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin failed to clarify the details of Donald Trump’s ‘phenomenal tax’ plan during an interview. The greenback was also affected negatively by the higher-than-expected initial jobless claims data for last week.
The US dollar weakened against its main competitors such as the euro and the Japanese yen retracing most of the gains made during previous sessions. The US Dollar Index, which tracks the greenback’s performance, hit a daily low of 100.87 having opened the day’s session trading at 101.38.
Steven Mnuchin’s comments that he wants to see a “very significant” tax reform bill passed before Congress adjourns for recess in August did little to reassure the markets of the US dollar stability, which triggered the selling pressure on the greenback. The initial jobless claims data for the week ended February 17 rose to 244,000, which was higher than the expected figure of 241,000, and the previous week’s figure of 239,000.
The US dollar was also affected negatively by the disappointing FOMC minutes released yesterday afternoon, which indicated that the possibility of a Fed rate hike in March was quite minimal.
The University of Michigan confidence Index for the month of February and the new home sales data for January scheduled for release tomorrow are likely to affect the greenback’s performance.
The EUR/USD was trading at 1.0584 as at 16:57 GMT having risen from a daily low of 1.0536 prior to Mnuchin’s interview. The USD/JPY was trading at 112.69 having opened the day’s session trading at 113.39.
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