TOKYO (Reuters) – The dollar has largely picked up President Donald Trump with the decision to rely on a threat to block a COVID-19 aid account in thin trading Monday with many investors on vacation.
The pound hovered below a 2-1 / 2-year high in the Asian session following last week’s agreement on a close Brexit trade deal that does not cover Britain’s financial sector.
The dollar index changed at 90,151 min after a three-day decline.
Sterling added 0.2% to $ 1.3565, falling back to the $ 1.3625 mark it reached for the first time since May 2018 earlier this month.
Trump has signed the $ 2.3 billion pandemic aid and spending package, which repelled a partial strike by the federal government that was due to begin on Tuesday.
Earlier, he tweeted cryptically: “Good news about Covid Relief Bill. Information to follow! He had earlier demanded an increase in stimulus tests for struggling Americans to $ 2,000 from $ 600.
The euro was slightly changed at $ 1.2216, near the 2 1/2 year high of $ 1.2273 this month.
While the Brexit agreement last week was a relief for investors, Britain is leaving the revealing nature of the treaty much more separate from the EU, analysts believe, the rebate that British assets have caused since 2016 will not disappear any time soon.
Brussels has not yet made a decision on whether Britain will grant access to the bloc’s financial market.
Mitsuo Imaizumi, chief FX strategist at Daiwa Securities in Tokyo, expects the pound and the euro to fall against the dollar, reaching $ 1.30 and $ 1.15 respectively by the end of the summer.
“Regardless of the Brexit agreement, the cable will be off,” he said.
“It buys the rumor, sells it.”
The Australian dollar rose to 76,082 US cents, compared to the 2 1/2 year high of 76,390 reached this month.
The yuan has crept in after China’s central bank raised its official lead level to its highest in 30 months.
Abroad, the yuan rose 0.1% to 6.5200 per dollar, while changing owners ashore at 6.5296.
The dollar weakened slightly to 103,455 yen.
Policymakers in central Japan have been divided over how far they should go to examine yield control, and some are calling for a comprehensive review of the framework, a summary of the opinions expressed during the December rate assessment, Monday showed.
Reporting by Kevin Buckland; Edited by Stephen Coates