The dollar struggled against most of its trading partners including the euro, yen and pound on Monday morning, skirting 13-month lows. The greenback was weighed by political woes which seem to be plaguing the United States since President Trump took office in January. The most recent trouble for the President came this weekend with the resignation of Sean Spicer, Trump’s press secretary, whose resignation was prompted by Trump’s appointment of Anthony Scaramucci as communications director. Scaramucci has a highly-respected resume, having served as a successful hedge fund manager and the U.S. Export-Import Bank’s senior vice president. Detractors, however, are concerned that someone with a strictly financial background is not the right person to create the White House’s messaging – especially when President Trump’s erratic Tweeting often conflicts with the White House’s carefully-crafted messages. Traders worldwide are concerned that a White House shakeup (or, at the very least, a temporary turmoil in the White House), will wreak additional havoc on the dollar.
The euro was trading at $1.1669, up 0.7 percent against the dollar. The dollar fell 0.14 percent against the yen, to 110.94 as of 10:14 a.m. HK/SIN.
Asian markets opened lower on Monday morning, taking cues from Wall Street’s flat close on Friday. Japan’s Nikkei 225 index was down 083 percent in early trade and MSCI’s broadest index of shares outside Japan was down 0.1 percent. Australia’s ASX 200 was also lower, trading 0.81 percent lower and Korea’s Kospi eased 0.15 percent. Only Honk Kong’s Hang Seng Index seemed to be bucking the trend, trading up 0.44 percent early Monday morning.
Monday’s Message
All eyes are once again on President Trump who is scheduled to deliver a statement on the state of the healthcare reform on Monday at 3:15 p.m EST. Trump promised to repeal and replace President Obama’s healthcare reform (“Obamacare”) was one of his biggest campaign proposals, and the proposal failed last week after Trump was unable to garner enough support for the bill within his own Republican party. After the repeal and replace bill was tabled Trump also failed to gain support for a repeal-only version of his proposal. Trump’s comments on Monday, though unlikely to provide new information regarding the healthcare reforms, are important because they will also set the tone for the tax reforms he is hoping to push through.