By Gina Lee
Investing.com – The dollar was down on Monday morning in Asia, shrugging off the news that U.S. President Donald Trump has signed a COVID-19 aid bill.
The U.S. Dollar Index that tracks the greenback against a basket of other currencies edged down 0.15% to 90.112 by 12:09 AM ET (5:09 AM GMT). It was little changed after seeing a three-day slide.
Trump had tweeted, “Good news on COVID Relief Bill. Information to follow!” ahead of the announcement that he had signed the $2.3 trillion COVID-19 aid and spending package into law earlier in the day. This follows the bill’s passage in the House of Representatives and the Senate during the past week and averted a partial federal government shutdown.
Congress will also vote on increasing the amount of the stimulus checks in the bill to $2,000 from the current $600. The “measly” amount was why Trump threatened to withhold his signature.
The USD/JPY pair inched down 0.06% to 103.54. The Bank of Japan’s summary of opinions voiced during its December rate review earlier in the month showed that policymakers were divided on how far they should go in examining yield curve control, with some calling for a comprehensive review of the framework.
The AUD/USD pair edged up 0.13% to 0.7609 and the NZD/USD pair inched up 0.03% to 0.7125. Markets in both Antipodean countries were closed for a holiday.
The USD/CNY pair edged down 0.14% to 6.5316.
The GBP/USD pair edged up 0.13% to 1.3565. The pound rose to a two-and-a-half-year high during the session, still glowing from the post-Brexit trade deal reached between the U.K. and the European Union (EU) during the previous week.
The agreement came ahead of the year-end deadline and gave investors some relief before the Christmas holidays. However, the deal does not cover the U.K.’s financial sector and the bare-bones natures of the deal could leave the U.K. even more detached from the EU.
The EU has yet to decide whether to grant the U.K. access to its financial market. This could see the discount that has dogged UK assets since it voted to leave the EU in 2016 continue into 2021.
The euro inched down 0.10% to $1.2199, further retreating from the two-and-a-half-year high of $1.2273 seen earlier in the month.
Some investors remained bearish on both the pound and euro.
Daiwa Securities chief FX strategist Mitsuo Imaizumi told Reuters that he expects the pound and euro to further decline against the dollar, reaching $1.30 and $1.15 respectively by the end of the summer.
“Regardless of the Brexit deal, cable will be down. It’s buy the rumor, sell the fact,” he said.