The U.S dollar, on Wednesday, March 22, hit a four-month low against the safe-haven yen as a risk-off mood grew in markets.
Against the yen, which investors traditionally flock to during times of risk aversion, the dollar fell 0.4 percent to 111.25 yen, with nervousness deepening ahead of a key healthcare vote in U.S. Congress on Thursday.
Wall Street fell by the most since before Donald Trump’s election on Tuesday as investors worried the U.S. president will struggle to deliver his promised tax cuts and infrastructure, and the cautious mood continued into Asian and European trading.
U.S. Treasury yields were also sharply lower, eroding the interest-rate allure of the dollar, which hit a seven-week low of 99.62 against a basket of major rivals.
Investors are also worried by an FBI investigation into possible ties between Trump’s presidential campaign and Russia as Moscow sought to influence the 2016 U.S. election, which was confirmed on Monday.
Dollar bulls were disappointed last week when the U.S. Federal Reserve hiked interest rates as expected but did not signal a faster pace of future tightening, as many had anticipated.
And the U.S. currency has also felt pressure from a resurgent euro.
Growing expectations of a tightening in European Central Bank monetary policy this year, and the possibility of anti-euro candidate Marine Le Pen being defeated in the French presidential elections, have supported the common currency.
On Wednesday, the euro was 0.2 percent weaker at $1.0790 after surging 0.6 percent on Tuesday to $1.0819, its highest since Feb. 2, after centrist French presidential candidate Emmanuel Macron’s performance in a debate fuelled expectations he would win, Reuters reports.
