Dollar Mixed, Yen Surges as Tariffs Fan Haven Bid
The dollar traded mixed against its Group-of-10 peers while the yen surged in early Asian trading after President Donald Trump’s sweeping trade tariffs sparked a flight to haven assets on fears it will impact the global economy.
USD/JPY fell 0.8% to 148.02. Treasury futures advanced while US equity futures contracts slumped.
Trump said he will apply a minimum 10% tariff on all exporters to the US and slap additional duties on around 60 nations with the largest trade imbalances with the US. That includes substantially higher rates on some of the country’s biggest trading partners, such as China — which now faces a 54% total tariff — the European Union and Vietnam.
“We are seeing a push to haven trades,” said Nick Twidale, chief analyst at AT Global Markets in Sydney. “Those tariffs were to the higher end of expectations and traders now have real concern for global growth moving forward”.
“I am expecting to see more volatility through the day but overall I think these trends will extend given the ‘hardness’ of the tariff announcements this morning”.
AUD/USD fell as much as 1.2% to 0.6226 and NZD/USD dropped 1.1% to 0.5682.
Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese described the 10% tariff on Australian goods as a “poor decision” and said he will not respond with reciprocal levies.
USD/CNH rose as much as 0.7% to 7.3484, the highest since Feb. 3.
USD/CHF slipped 0.4% lower to 0.8783.
EUR/USD up 0.1% to 1.0866.
USD/CAD little changed at 1.4242.
