Dollar lowers

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TOKYO: The dollar drifted lower against the yen and euro on Wednesday, as lingering concerns about U.S. President Donald Trump´s protectionist stance undermined the greenback´s earlier rebound.

The U.S. currency was down 0.25 percent at 113.500 yen after briefly nearing 114.00. It had gained about 1 percent the previous day to bounce from an eight-week trough of 112.520 as U.S. Treasury yields had reversed course and risen.

The euro was a shade higher at $1.0733. The common currency had lost about 0.3 percent overnight, sliding from a near seven-week high of $1.0775.The dollar index against a basket of major currencies gave back a bulk of its overnight gains and was last down 0.2 percent at 100.180."We retain our view that the dollar is on a longer-term uptrend.

But for the moment, scepticism towards the Trump presidency retains the upper hand," said Shusuke Yamada, chief Japan FX strategist at BOA Merrill Lynch.

"Such scepticism could linger for a while since it will be some time before we get a clear picture of the Trump presidency´s fiscal spending and tax plans.

"The dollar index had soared to a 14-year high of 103.820 in the eight weeks following Trump´s surprise election victory in November.