By Ronnie Harui
Most Asian currencies strengthened in morning trading amid continuing headwinds for the U.S. dollar, including worries about fading U.S. exceptionalism.
Against the dollar, the yen appreciated 0.5%, the Singapore dollar rose 0.4% and the Australian dollar added 0.2%. Trading was somewhat subdued on Monday amid holidays in parts of the Asian region, such as Hong Kong.
Gold hit another intraday record, rising 1.6% to $3,380.37 an ounce after touching a high of $3,382.53 an ounce earlier.
There were "some concerning signs last week that the Trump administration is looking for ways to fire Fed Chair Powell," MUFG Bank's Michael Wan said in a research report.
Jerome Powell made hawkish comments last week when he "focused more on making sure second-round effects from one-off price increases from tariffs do not result in persistently higher inflation expectations," the senior currency analyst said.
"While we think it is unlikely the Trump administration will be able to remove the Fed chair outright given the lack of legal authority, any moves on this front will likely create an outsized market move, including in FX, and is something to watch closely for," Wan said.
Asian stock markets were mixed. Japan's Nikkei Stock Average fell 1.0% and Malaysia's benchmark Kuala Lumpur Composite Index edged 0.05% lower. Meanwhile, Singapore's Straits Times Index rose 1.3%, South Korea's Kospi Index edged 0.2% higher and China's Shanghai Composite Index was up 0.5%.
Write to Ronnie Harui at ronnie.harui@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
April 20, 2025 22:32 ET (02:32 GMT)
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