The dollar weakened further early Friday morning morning with no end to the spiral in sight after European Central Bank President Mario Draghi making comments on Thursday afternoon that sent the common currency to near two-year highs against the greenback. The dollar is now 10 percent down against the euro since the start of 2017.
The dollar’s recent downtrend was aggravated further last week when Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen expressed her concern about the low inflation rate. The dollar weakened further after Donald Trump Jr. admitted to having ties to the Russian government. The failure of President Trump to pass both his healthcare reform bill and to garner support for the repeal of Obamacare without a replacement has caused analysts to have additional concerns about the dollar and its ability to rise out from its current slump.
The euro was trading at $1.1624 as of 9:49 a.m. HK/SIN, after gaining 1 percent on Thursday, the biggest daily gain in nearly a month. Asian markets were struggling early in the day after Wall Street closed flat on Thursday. Japan’s Nikkei 225 was down 0.18 percent and MSCI’s broadest index of shares outside Japan was down 0.1 percent, a slight sign of struggle in an index that has gained nearly 5 percent in the past two weeks alone. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index was down 0.13 percent in early trade and Australia’s ASX 200 was down 0.79 percent.
Analysts are concerned that the dollar will continue to struggle, especially as it was just announced that there are still questions and investigations surrounding President Trump and his associates and their relationship and relations with Russia.
“This revelation is huge as just last week, President Trump said that expanding the investigation beyond Russia would be out of bounds. So with Mueller broadening the inquisition into Trump's business dealings, U.S. political risk could move to whole new levels as this foxtrot plays out," OANDA senior trader Stephen Innes said in a note that was published by CNBC. Any incriminating evidence or findings of questionable integrity are likely to send the dollar down further.