Early trade in New York: Dollar on track for worst year since 2017

NEW YORK: The dollar was on track for its worst yearly loss since 2017 on Thursday as expectations of additional fiscal stimulus and loose Federal Reserve monetary policies lead investors to shun the currency and project further weakness in 2021.

The US currency is also suffering from rising fiscal and current account deficits that show no signs of slowing down.

The dollar was little changed against a basket of currencies at 89.59, after earlier dropping to 89.52, the lowest since April 2018. It is down more than 7% this year.

Trading is thin with many investors out between the Christmas and New Year holidays.

The euro slid 0.16% to $1.2281 after reaching $1.2310 on Wednesday, the highest since April 2018.

The Aussie and kiwi both hit their highest levels since April 2018 with the Aussie surging as high as $0.7743 and the New Zealand dollar reaching $0.7241.

The dollar slipped 0.18% against the Japanese yen to 103.07 yen. It is holding just above a nine-month low of 102.86 yen reached on Dec. 17.

Sterling got a boost after Britain’s markets watchdog intervened hours before the country leaves the European Union’s single market on Thursday with a partial climbdown on curbs that risked disrupting swaps trades worth billions of euros.

The pound was last up 0.23% at $1.3655, after earlier reaching $1.3686, the highest since May 2018.

Bitcoin reached a record high of $29,300 taking the yearly gain for the world’s most popular cryptocurrency past 300%.

The greenback fell 0.24% against the Canadian dollar to a 13-day low of 1.2719 Canadian dollars. The loonie’s rise has lagged other currencies including the Aussie and kiwi.—Reuters