24 Mar 2025
The Dollar edged slightly below a three-week high against major currencies on Monday as traders awaited more clarity on US President Donald Trump's upcoming tariffs.
According to reports from Bloomberg News and the Wall Street Journal, citing officials, Trump's administration is expected to exclude certain sector-specific tariffs while implementing reciprocal levies on 2nd April.
The Dollar index, which tracks the currency against a basket of six major rivals, was slightly down at 103.94 at the time of writing, after reaching 104.22 on Friday, marking its highest level since 7th March, Reuters reports.
“I would imagine that markets will remain anxious and sensitive to any news that comes out regarding Trump tariffs ahead of that April 2nd announcement, so I expect some market jitters certainly this week,” stated Jane Foley, head of FX strategy at Rabobank.
The Dollar has faced pressure throughout much of this year, as initial market expectations that Trump would swiftly implement pro-growth policies shifted to concerns that his aggressive and unpredictable trade actions could lead to a recession.
The next round of tariffs is set for 2nd April, when the White House will unveil reciprocal levies on several countries.
The Euro climbed 0.25% to $1.0836, recovering some of last week's losses and extending its 4.4% gain against the Dollar for the month.
A survey showed that business activity in the eurozone grew at its fastest pace in seven months in March, driven by a slowdown in the prolonged manufacturing slump, despite slower growth in services.
“Looking at the PMI data that we've seen this morning, a little bit mixed and so that's not really going to alter the overall tone of the market still concentrating on those tariff announcements,” Foley added.
The single currency had risen to its highest level since early October at $1.0955 last week, fuelled by optimism over Germany's decision to ease fiscal constraints to increase military and infrastructure spending.
However, the Euro has recently pulled back ahead of the actual ratification of this change, with Germany's upper house of parliament passing the bill on the so-called debt brake last Friday.
Elsewhere, Sterling rose 0.3% to $1.2956. On Sunday, UK Chancellor Rachel Reeves stated she would adhere to fiscal rules despite global instability, hinting at the possibility of significant public sector job cuts in this week's budget update, which is expected to outline additional savings.