TOKYO (Reuters) – The dollar shrugged at the news that President Trump admitted to a threat to block a COVID-19 support bill in thin trading Monday with many investors on vacation.
The pound floated below the 2 1/2 year high during the Asian session following last week’s agreement on a narrow Brexit trade deal that does not cover the UK financial sector.
The dollar index changed little to 90,224, after a three-day decline.
The British pound added 0.1% to $ 1.3544, bringing the water below the 2 1/2 year high of $ 1.3625 reached earlier this month.
Trump has signed the $ 2.3 trillion pandemic aid and spending package, officials said Sunday night, preventing a partial shutdown of the federal government.
Earlier he had tweeted cryptically, “Good news about Covid Relief Bill. Information will follow! He had previously demanded an increase in incentive checks for troubled Americans from $ 600 to $ 2,000.
The euro fell 0.1% to $ 1.2199, retreating further from the 2 1/2-year high of $ 1.2273 touched this month.
While last week’s Brexit deal was a relief for investors, the bare nature of the pact is leaving Britain much more detached from the EU, analysts say, suggesting that the rebate that has haunted British assets since 2016 will not be anytime soon. to disappear.
Brussels has not yet made a decision on whether or not Britain will grant the bloc’s financial market.
Mitsuo Imaizumi, chief FX strategist at Daiwa Securities in Tokyo, expects the pound and euro to fall $ 1.30 and $ 1.15 respectively against the dollar by the end of the summer.
“Regardless of the Brexit deal, the cable will go out,” he said.
“It’s buy the rumor, sell the fact.”
The dollar changed little at 103.63 yen.
Policymakers at Japan’s power plant were divided on how far to go in examining yield curve control, and some called for a comprehensive overhaul of the framework, a summary of views expressed during the December interest rates were voiced.
Reporting by Kevin Buckland; Editing by Stephen Coates