US Dollar challenging 2017 lows near 98.30

The sell off in the greenback stays everything but abated today, with the US Dollar Index now hovering over YTD lows in the 98.30 region.

US Dollar weaker on Trump, looks to data

USD has reacted adversely to the story published earlier today by the Washington Post, which reported that President Trump shared important information with the Russian ambassador and foreign minister at their meeting last week.

The index has thus intensified its weekly decline, recording fresh YTD lows around 98.30 ahead of the opening bell in Wall St.

However, yields in the US money markets have quickly rebounded from recent lows and continue to advance at the time of writing, with the 10-year reference testing highs around 2.36%.

In the meantime, expectations of further tightening by the Fed at the June meeting remain poised to drive the mood around the buck for the time being and could limit the buck’s pullback somewhat. According to Reuters’s FedWatch, the probability of higher rates next month is at just above 64%, down almost 20 pts from last week.

Data wise today, Housing Starts, Building Permits, Industrial and Manufacturing Production are all due later in the NA session.

US Dollar relevant levels

The index is losing 0.49% at 98.33 and a break below 96.94 (low Nov.4 2016) would open the door to 95.91 (low Nov.9 2016) and then 94.95 (low Sep.22 2016). On the upside, the next hurdle lines up at 99.07 (20-day sma) ahead of 99.20 (200-day sma/12-month resistance line) and finally 99.77 (high May 11).