Investing.com – The dollar fell against a basket of major currencies on Wednesday, as political turmoil in Washington intensified, after a report that President Trump attempted to influence an ongoing FBI investigation weighed on sentiment.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, fell by 0.59% to 97.52 by 13:07 EDT.
The New York Times reported late Tuesday, that President Donald Trump asked the then-FBI Director James Comey to shut down an investigation into the actions of former National Security Advisor Mike Flynn.
Although, The White House on Tuesday denied the report, and said that the president has “never” asked Mr Comey to end any investigations, investors fled risk assets and poured into safe-havens amid the continued political saga in Washington.
The allegations that President Trump tried to interfere with an ongoing FBI investigation, came a day after reports that Trump had shared sensitive information with Russia at a meeting last week.
The U.S. dollar lost ground against its yen counterpart, as investors flocked into safe-havens, which includes the yen.
USD/JPY fell to a two-week low of $111.35, down 1.56%, while the USD/CAD traded roughly flat at $1.3611, buoyed by better than expected Canadian manufacturing data.
Elsewhere, the EUR/USD surged 0.46% to $1.1134, up 0.46%, while EUR/GBP gained 0.33% to 0.8607, after inflation figures for April were in line with estimates.
GBP/USD rose 0.16% to $1.2938, on the back of mixed UK jobs report, after the unemployment rate fell while the claimant count rose well above analysts’ expectations.