The US dollar inched higher on Friday trading in Asia, recovering from the recently struck 7-week trough on a generally improved outlook for the US economy. Upbeat corporate earnings helped improve optimism despite concerns of a protectionist policy being bandied about by the US President. Markets are also optimistic that President Trump will follow through on his campaign promise of more fiscal spending, given that he has already signed several executive orders that essentially fulfilled other promises.
As reported at 10:48 am (JST) in Tokyo, the USD/JPY was trading at 114.82 Yen, a gain of 0.28%; the pair had earlier hit a session low of 114.4000 Yen while the peak was set at 114.6800 Yen. The AUD/USD was up 0.08% at $0.7539, moving away from the session low of $0.7526. The NZD/USD was up 0.05% to trade at $0.7249.
Mexican Wall Rift Weighs on Peso
One growing concern among investors is Trump’s continued assertion that he will build a wall along the border that separates the US and Mexico. Trump has insisted that, one way or another, Mexico will be paying for that wall. Trump earlier said that there was consideration of a 20% tariff on Mexican imports to pay for the wall but he has since backtracked on that idea. The Mexican Peso is under some pressure as a result of the growing animosity and was down more than 0.5% earlier; currently, the USD/MXN was up 0.45% at 21.321 Mexican Pesos.