The dollar tumbled further overnight after U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said a weaker greenback was good for the country for trade-related reasons.
At 6:53 a.m. HK/SIN, the dollar index, which tracks the U.S. currency against a basket of rivals, was lower by around 1 percent at 89.221. Against the yen, the dollar broke below the 110 handle to trade at 109.18, but was off Wednesday’s low of 108.95.
The euro, meanwhile, stood at $1.2397 after trading as high as $1.2415 earlier. The moves in the euro also came ahead of the European Central Bank’s interest rates decision on Thursday during Europe hours.
Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross later told CNBC that Mnuchin’s remarks should not be seen as advocacy for a weaker dollar. Ross also said there was a “good chance” that U.S. renegotiation efforts in NAFTA talks would turn out well.
Those developments came after President Donald Trump approved tariffs against imported solar cells and certain washing machines. The move, while seen as having a small economic impact for now, had raised some concerns over future trade moves in the region. South Korea and China also spoke out against the tariffs earlier in the week.
