The U.S. dollar started the week broadly lower, struggling against its primary currency partners after U.S. President Donald Trump mentioned his discomfort with the dollar’s strength, even after U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin praised the currency’s strength right before the G20 summit in Buenos Aires. Unfortunately for the dollar, the summit ended without a resolution of the trade disputes started by the U.S. tariffs on global products, an outcome which did little to help the dollar. The participants in the meeting ended the meeting with a call to increase a dialogue that will prevent the trade tensions from hampering global growth. On Friday President Trump once again threatened to impose fresh tariffs on $500 billion of Chinese imports to the United States unless Beijing commits to major structural changes to its technology transfer, industrial subsidy and joint venture policies.
The dollar index was down 0.16 percent to 9423 .DXY as of 9:57 a.m. HK/SIN. The greenback was down against the euro, trading at $1.1742. It also eased against the yen, easing 0.46 percent to 110.88. The dollar lost 0.11 percent against the pound, trading at $1.3147.
Over the weekend, polls by NBC news and the Wall Street Journal showed that President Trump’s job approval is stable, but that there is general malcontent relating to the way he is handling foreign trade policy. Fewer than four in 10 Americans approve of President Trump’s foreign trade policy. 45 percent of Americans approved of Trump’s job performance, a slight improvement since last month’s poll though 52 percent still expressed disapproval. When it came to immigration, a mere 31 percent of those polled supported Trump’s policies, while 58 percent disapproved.
Trump’s approval ratings are especially important as the mid-term elections near and Republicans worry that they will lose important seats. Increased expectations of Democratic voter turnout is also pressuring Republicans in advance of the upcoming election.