SINGAPORE — The dollar slid on Thursday on further signs that US President Donald Trump may adopt a softer stance in tariff negotiations and heightened expectations of Federal Reserve rate cuts.
Trump said on Wednesday he would be willing to extend a July 8 deadline for completing trade talks with countries before higher US tariffs are imposed.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent suggested earlier that the Trump administration may offer extensions from a July trade deal deadline for countries negotiating in good faith.
The remarks renewed dollar weakness, lifting the euro to a seven-week high. It last bought $1.1525.
The greenback lost 0.43 percent against the yen and 0.34 percent against the Swiss franc to last trade at 143.98 and 0.81725, respectively.
Against a basket of currencies, the dollar fell to its weakest since April 22 at 98.327.
“It’s hard to tell whether there is a masterplan behind this, but common sense would suggest that President Trump is trying to create a level of urgency in terms of trade negotiations,” said Rodrigo Catril, senior currency strategist at National Australia Bank.
“I think the market, in terms of the size of the moves, is becoming a little bit more sanguine about what this all means… the market is also very wary that the picture could change quite dramatically in a week’s time or two weeks’ time.”
Elsewhere, sterling was up 0.38 percent to $1.3588.
The Australian dollar ticked up 0.05 percent to $0.6506, while the New Zealand dollar rose 0.1 percent to $0.6033.
On Wednesday, data showed US consumer prices rose less than expected in May, leading traders to ramp up bets of a Fed cut as early as September and keeping pressure on the dollar.
