The dollar sank to a three-year low while world stocks notched their second record high in three days as a report that Donald Trump was planning to choose the next Federal Reserve chief early fuelled fresh bets on U.S. rate cuts.
Dollar selling was ongoing as U.S. trading picked up pace after the Wall Street Journal said the U.S. president - who has been urging the Fed to cut rates faster - was toying with the idea of selecting Chair Jerome Powell's replacement in the next few months ahead of his formal departure next May.
It left the greenback (.DXY), opens new tab down nearly 0.5% on Thursday and more than 10% for the year. If it stays that way in the next few days it will be its biggest first half-of-a-year fall since the start of the era of free-floating currencies in the early 1970s.
Wall Street's main markets (.SPX), opens new tab, (.DJI), opens new tab, (.NDX), opens new tab opened modestly higher, which kept MSCI's record-high world stocks benchmark (.MIWD00000PUS), opens new tab almost 8% ahead for the year.
European shares were starting to flag, however , given the euro is now at its strongest level since 2021 and trade tariff talks are looming with Washington next week, ahead of a Trump-imposed global deadline of July 9. /FRX
"The striking thing on the dollar trend of the last six weeks is that in almost any market regime the dollar is struggling to appreciate," State Street's Michael Metcalfe said.
"It seems to be in something of a structural decline," he added, highlighting State Street data that investors were now the most negative they have been on the dollar - or "underweight" in banking-speak - since the COVID pandemic.
Euro traders also took heart from the outcome of Wednesday's NATO summit that saw members of the alliance agree to spend 5% of output on defence - broken down into 3.5% on troops and weapons and 1.5% on looser, defence-related measures.
U.S. President Trump had also announced plans to hold talks with Iran next week to seek a commitment from Tehran on curtailing its nuclear ambitions.
Source: Reuters
The US dollar weakened on Friday after a surge in jobless claims and a moderate rise in inflation made markets increasingly confident that the Fed would cut interest rates next week—and possibly furth...
The US dollar held steady early in the Asian session after the PPI data fell 0.1% in August, reinforcing expectations that the Fed would cut interest rates next week. The Dollar Index edged up to 97.8...
The US dollar held steady on Wednesday (September 10th) ahead of US inflation data this week that could help shape the Federal Reserve's policy outlook, while tense geopolitical conditions supported c...
The dollar index held around 97.8 on Wednesday after firming in the prior session, as investors awaited key inflation reports that could influence the Federal Reserve's policy stance. The producer pr...
A Bloomberg gauge of the dollar rose late in New York trading alongside Treasury yields as investors look to the release of CPI data this week to gauge the Fed's rate-cutting path. Earlier, the yen ra...
The University of Michigan consumer sentiment for the US dropped to 55.4 in September 2025, down from 58 in August and well below market expectations of 58, according to preliminary estimates. This marked the second consecutive monthly decrease,...
Wall Street indexes opened subdued on Friday after notching record highs in the previous session, though they remained on track to log gains in a week of economic reports that solidified expectations for interest rate cuts. The Dow Jones...
Poland rejected on Friday a suggestion by Donald Trump that Russian drone incursions into its airspace could have been a mistake, a rare contradiction of the U.S. president from one of Washington's closest European allies. Poland, backed by...
The International Monetary Fund on Thursday said the Federal Reserve has scope to lower interest rates because of the weakening U.S. labor market,...
The Federal Reserve is likely to start a series of interest-rate cuts next week and keep going through the end of the year, traders bet on Wednesday...
Producer inflation in the United States, as measured by the change in the Producer Price Index (PPI), fell to 2.6% annually in August from 3.3% in...
Annual inflation in the United States (US), as measured by changes in the Consumer Price Index (CPI), rose to 2.9% in August from 2.7% in July, the...