The dollar plummeted more than 1.6 percent against the yen on Monday, retreating from the eight-month high set on Friday as traders showed concerns about this week’s OPEC meeting. The dollar-yen pair traded at 111.355 during Monday’s Asian session, while the dollar’s index against six major currencies eased off its 13 ½ year high, trading down 0.6 percent on the day. The euro rose 0.8 percent on Monday, hitting $1.0655 against the dollar.
The dollar also fell against many emerging market currencies including the South African rand, the Turkish lira, and Mexican peso, a currency which has been struggling greatly since Trump’s presidential victory.
Eye on Oil
Traders are carefully watching oil prices this week, as traders prepare themselves for an OPEC policy meeting which had previously been expected to release new policies for production cuts, but is now cause for more speculation and questioning. Brent crude fell 3.6 percent on Friday and another 2 percent in early Asian trading before rebounding to trade at $47.13 per barrel. Oil prices have fallen considerably on fears that the proposed deal may not be actualized, and analysts are concerned that such falls could send a ripple effect through the global economy, undoing the gains enjoyed since Trump’s win.
On Thursday the International Energy Agency (IEA) revealed that new oil production is likely to fall for a third consecutive year in 2017 as the global supply glut continues. This is the first time in history that that oil investments will decline three years in a row, which could shake global oil markets not just in the immediate future, but in the long-term outlook as well.