The US dollar had an Easter Monday slump, mostly against the yen on geopolitical worries. However, things turned around when US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin contradicted his boss’s words about the US dollar.
The recently minted Secretary gave an interview to the Financial Times and said (emphasis mine):
As the world’s currency, the primary reserve currency, I think that over long periods of time the strength of the dollar is a good thing
He went on to explain that the strength of the greenback is a function of the confidence in the economy. And what about President Trump’s comments complaining about a strong dollar? Mnuchin went out of his way to try and clarify this.
The president’s comment, which again I agree with, is that over short periods of time the strength of the dollar creates certain issues that hurt our exports. I think that is what he has referred to, which is again factually correct
In any case, the last word prevails and the US dollar enjoyed a recovery of sorts, especially against the Japanese yen.
USD/JPY currently trades just under 109, up from the lows of 108.12 it reached on Easter Monday. The pair remains very shy of the 110 level.
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