Hot Now: Dollar weakens

TOKYO/SINGAPORE: The dollar edged down against the yen on Wednesday after U.S. President Donald Trump raised the spectre of a government shutdown to fulfil a campaign pledge, but overall moves among major currencies were limited ahead of this week´s Jackson Hole global central bankers´ conference.

At a rally with his supporters in Phoenix, Trump referred to his vow to build a wall at the U.S.-Mexican border and said, “If we have to close down the government, we are building that wall. “In wide-ranging comments, he also signalled the possible termination of the NAFTA treaty with Mexico and Canada to jumpstart negotiations, and said the standoff with North Korea over its weapons programs might have taken a positive turn.

The dollar was last off slightly on the day at 109.53 yen after touching a low of 109.37, down from around 109.67 before Trump´s statement and below an earlier session high of 109.83 yen. But it remained well above a four-month low of 108.605 yen set late last week.

“It was not a big move, and it has mostly retraced, but the market seems to have taken Trump´s comments as negative for the dollar,” said Ayako Sera, senior market economist at Sumitomo Mitsui Trust.