The US dollar rose against the euro and the British pound on Thursday, to erase some of the losses it had yesterday following remarks by President Donald Trump that the greenback is too strong. Trump had added that he believes the Federal Reserve should keep interest rates low, with the aim of avoiding further gains in the US dollar.
The presidentâs remarks, which he made during an interview with The Wall Street Journal, came days before a meeting between finance ministers from the Group of Twenty in Washington. Trump stated in the interview that China will not be labeled a currency manipulator, which represents a complete change from his previous position that viewed Chinaâs currency as unfairly undervalued.
To add to the loaded interview, the US president refused to confirm that Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen will not be nominated for a second term, which was one of his election campaign promises.
Traders reassessed Trumpâs comments today as the drop of the dollar appeared overdone due to concerns of rising geopolitical tensions, which appeared to fuel the rapid decline. However, thin trading ahead of the Good Friday holiday in the United States and Europe made it harder for the dollar to return to the level it was at before Trumpâs comments.
The dollar found little support in economic releases today, which painted a mixed picture. The University of Michigan released a new reading for its consumer sentiment index, showing that it rose to 98.0 in April from 96.9 in March, which exceeded expectations of a reading of 96.5.
Initial jobless claims were also lower than expected in the week ended April 8 at 234,000, according to the Department of Labor. Analysts forecast jobless claims to rise to 245,000 from 235,000 in the previous week.
However, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said that the producer price index declined 0.1% in March, while core producer prices remained unchanged. Both readings disappointed expectations of a lack of change for the producer price index and a 0.2% gain for core producer prices.
EUR/USD traded at 1.0627 as of 16:20 GMT on Thursday, from 1.0674 at 06:05 GMT, the pairâs highest level since April 6. EUR/USD began trading today at 1.0665. GBP/USD was at 1.2520, from 1.2571 at 06:05 GMT, which is the strongest rate for the pair since March 28. GBP/USD started the day at 1.2552.
The Dollar Index, which tracks the performance of the US currency against a basket of its major peers, was at 100.44 as of 16:16 GMT today, from 100.78 yesterday.
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