Dollar Strengthens, Yen Under Pressure After Cautious Signals from Tokyo
The US dollar strengthened on Tuesday (February 24th) after being under pressure earlier in the week, as markets digested a US Supreme Court ruling restricting some of the Trump administration's tariff scheme. While the old tariffs were disputed, Washington moved quickly with a 10% global tariff and the possibility of increasing it to 15%, making trade uncertainty a key theme in the currency market once again.
The USD's strength was also supported by a more hawkish tone from Fed officials. Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee emphasized that a rate cut would only be appropriate if there was evidence that inflation was truly returning to the 2% target—signaling that policy easing would not be rushed.
Data-wise, the ADP employment indicator showed a four-week moving average rising to 12.8,000 from 11.5,000, further bolstering the narrative that the labor market remains relatively stable. With this support, the DXY strengthened by around 0.26% to 97.94 in recent trading, reflecting a recovery in dollar demand following the tariff turmoil.
In major pairs, EUR/USD traded near the 1.1790 price region, little changed throughout the day as the European Central Bank (ECB) effectively kept inflation near its 2% target. GBP/USD traded near 1.3510, paring some intraday gains but remaining in the green, even after Bank of England (BoE) Governor Andrew Bailey opened the door to further easing amid uncertainty over US trade policy.
In Asia, the yen weakened after reports that Japanese PM Sanae Takaichi conveyed caution about further interest rate hikes to BoJ Governor Kazuo Ueda—pushing USD/JPY to around 155–156.
Source: Newsmaker.id
