Skip to main content

Dollar tumbles on month-end moves, Scaramucci departure

By Sam Forgione

The U.S. dollar hit a more than 2-1/2-year low against the euro on Monday on month-end portfolio adjustments and uncertainty over the U.S. political outlook after the departure of White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci.

FILE PHOTO: Illustration photo of U.S. Dollar and Euro notes © REUTERS/Thomas White/Illustration/File Photo FILE PHOTO: Illustration photo of U.S. Dollar and Euro notes

The euro hit more than 2-1/2-year peaks against the dollar earlier in the session on month-end buying and euro zone inflation data that kept expectations for a more hawkish European Central Bank alive. It extended gains to trade as much as 0.8 percent higher against the dollar on the day after the New York Times reported U.S. President Donald Trump had decided to remove Scaramucci.

The White House later said Scaramucci was leaving the job after little over a week. Scaramucci's departure follows one of the rockiest weeks of Trump's presidency in which a major legislative effort - a healthcare overhaul - failed in Congress and both his spokesman and previous chief of staff left their jobs.

The dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, hit its lowest since early May 2016 of 92.786 (.DXY) after the news of Scaramucci's departure. The dollar also hit a more than six-week low against the yen of 110.22 yen (JPY=).

Doubts surrounding the likelihood of Trump realizing his pro-growth agenda, including tax reform, have hurt the dollar and contributed to the dollar index's roughly 2.9 percent decline in July. That decline would be the biggest monthly drop since March 2016.

Concerns that low U.S. inflation could lead to a more dovish Federal Reserve have also hurt the greenback.

“With the confirmation of Scaramucci’s departure, this is another blow to the administration’s credibility," said Alfonso Esparza, senior currency analyst at Oanda in Toronto.

The euro was boosted earlier in the day as traders bought the currency as part of month-end portfolio adjustments, analysts said, and on the expectations the ECB was on track to tighten monetary policy.

"Europe’s economy is really doing well, and as a result you should expect monetary policy over the medium term to adjust to that," said Greg Anderson, global head of foreign exchange strategy at BMO Capital Markets in New York.

The euro was last on track to gain 3.6 percent against the dollar in July to mark its biggest one-month percentage gain since March 2016. The dollar was set to fall 1.9 percent against the yen to mark its biggest one-month percentage decline in six months.

(Reporting by Sam Forgione; Editing by Grant McCool and Chris Reese)

Labels:

Popular posts from this blog

R. Tiglao Exposed LTO Records Showing Aquino Never Bought or Sold a Porsche

Veteran columnist Rigoberto Tiglao exposed the Land Transportation Office (LTO) records of former President Benigno Aquino III showing that he never bought or sold an expensive Porsche car. The LTO records proved that the former President did not sold his Porsche 911 Carrera car which he claimed he bought for P5 million. The controversial Porsche car of the former President made headlines just months into his presidency but he explained that he bought the luxury car with the proceeds he got when he sold his BMW. Because of the furor from such display of opulence, Pres. Aquino claimed to have sold it six months later for exactly the same price. According to Tiglao during that time he asked through his column the LTO to release the car's deed of sale and registration to prove that it was not a gift from a Chinese-Filipino tycoon as rumored by some individuals critical to the President. The only possible way to discover whether the Porsche luxury was indeed sold was through ...
Read more

Samsung is catering to its American customers by providing a $50 screen replacement service

Owners of Galaxy smartphones in the US can get the display of their device replaced for $50 from Samsung. Including the District of Columbia, the new program is available everywhere in the United States. As of June 27th, the discounted repair program will end. The list of compatible Galaxy smartphones may be found in the […] The post Samsung is catering to its American customers by providing a $50 screen replacement service appeared first on Gadgets Village .
Read more

There is talk of the forthcoming release of a Vivo Y77 series phone that will allow 80W charging

Recently, a Vivo phone with the model number V2219A was discovered in TENAA’s certification database. The gadget’s final name is yet unknown. It was first thought to be released as an X-series phone. On the other hand, information leaker Blad says it will be released as a Y-series device. The source says the V2219A will […] The post There is talk of the forthcoming release of a Vivo Y77 series phone that will allow 80W charging appeared first on Gadgets Village .
Read more