The dollar hovered near a 10-month low during early Asian trading as investors continued to doubt whether the United States would tighten monetary policy as aggressively as originally expected. Data out of the U.S. late last week showed disappointing readings for consumer prices and retails sales which started the dollar’s struggle and called Federal Reserve policy into question. The chances of a Fed rate hike in December fell to 43.1 from 55 percent on Thursday according to the CME Group’s FedWatch tool.
In contrast, news out of China on Monday morning showed that the country beat GDP estimates, with second quarter GDP rising 6.9 percent on the year, an announcement that sent Asian stocks higher and did little to ease the dollar’s struggle.
Chinese stocks had fallen more than 2 percent in early trade but began to rebound after the announcement.
The dollar was trading at $1.146 against the euro as of 11:52 a.m. HK/SIN and at 112.61 against the yen after closing down 0.7 percent against the yen on Friday.
Ethereum Struggles More
The dollar’s struggles seemed to pale in comparison to the struggles of Ethereum, the digital currency challenging Bitcoin for market share. According to Coinbase pricing data, Ethereum’s price plummeted more than 20 percent on Sunday morning after concerns about the recent price surge of Bitcoin. Ethereum hit a low of $130.26 around 9 a.m. EST, a 22 percent loss from Saturday night’s prices, and the lowest price for the digital currency since May 27. Though Ethereum is still trading approximately 1,800 percent higher since the start of 2017, it is down nearly 60 percent since its record highs hit on June 12.
Bitcoin’s price also struggled on Sunday, dipping below $1,800, a 12 percent decline, before heading higher. Even with recent losses, Bitcoin value has doubled since the start of 2017.