By Tom Westbrook
SINGAPORE (Reuters) – The dollar hit a three-week high on the yen early on Tuesday and was firm across the board after some strong U.S. services data and cautious optimism on the tariff front.
President Donald Trump said not all of his threatened levies would be imposed on April 2 and some countries may get breaks, which helped the dollar and the mood on Wall Street overnight by soothing some fears about a slowdown in U.S growth.
The dollar jumped 0.9%, pulling above 150 yen, then rose a little further in the Asia morning to a three-week high of 150.92 yen.
A strong services component in S&P Global’s flash U.S. PMI figures pushed up U.S. yields and coincided with weakness in Japan, where services and manufacturing were both in contraction.
The dollar also hit its strongest since March 6 at $1.0781 per euro, as a powerful rally in the common currency loses steam.
It was last trading at $1.0796, while sterling hit a two-week low of $1.2883 before steadying at $1.2918 in Asia trade. The U.S. dollar index notched a fourth straight session of gains to settle at 104.3.
But with Trump vowing that automobile tariffs are coming soon and the market implications of the levies complicated by concerns about U.S. growth, the next move is not obvious.
Data from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission on Friday showed that speculators turned net bearish on the U.S. currency last week for the first time since October, though the position is close to neutral.
“It seems like nobody knows what to do with the USD,” said Brent Donnelly, President at analytics firm Spectra Markets.
“The EUR/USD trade has petered out, as have the massive move in rate differentials and relative equity performance,” he said.
“The view that tariffs are unambiguously bullish USD has been challenged by the price action in 2025, and so even when we get the information on what tariffs look like next week, it will be hard to know what we are supposed to do.”
The Australian dollar seemed to catch support from optimism about Trump’s tariff flexibility, and was steady at $0.6282. Australia’s government will unveil a pre-election budget at 0830 GMT, aimed at cost of living relief.
Bitcoin rode about 3% higher with the mood to trade around $87,400 in Asia. The New Zealand dollar slipped to its lowest in a week at $0.5725.
(Reporting by Tom Westbrook. Editing by Gerry Doyle)
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