Euro wobbles as data paints gloomy outlook, focus on US budget
The euro wobbled on Thursday as data painted a bleak economic picture, while U.S. fiscal concerns kept the dollar pinned lower against the yen as the U.S. House passed President Donald Trump’s bill for huge tax and spending cuts, News.az reports citing Xinhua.
Bitcoin pushed to an all-time high, partly as investors sought out alternatives to U.S. assets.
Trump’s sweeping tax bill, which is set to add to the country’s ballooning debt pile, narrowly passed in the House of Representatives, setting the stage for weeks of debate in the Republican-led Senate.
"The view is that, with this bill, Trump is playing with fire with the deficit," said Francesco Pesole, FX strategist at ING.
"It’s causing a coordinated sell-off in equities and Treasuries, and the ’Sell America’ theme is obviously quite negative for the dollar," Pesole added.
The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office estimates the bill will add $3.8 trillion to the $36.2 trillion in U.S. debt over the next decade.
The dollar slipped as much as 0.5% to 142.80 yen, its weakest level since May 7, but was last little changed at 143.655.
A lacklustre 20-year bond sale on Wednesday reinforced the "Sell America" narrative, weighing not just on the dollar but on Wall Street as well, with traders already jittery after Moody’s cut the triple-A U.S. credit rating last week.
"Trump’s tax bill implies higher deficits and they’ll most likely need to issue more government bonds," said Sara Midtgaard, senior strategist at Nordea.
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