Investing.com - The dollar drifted weaker in Asia on Tuesday as markets chewed on the latest controversy in the Trump administration after an explosive story in the Washington Post suggested he had provided Russian diplomats with top secret details on Middle Eastern intelligence sources.
AUD/USD traded at 0.7425, up 0.16%, while USD/JPY traded at 113.66, down 0.10%. Ahead the Reserve Bank of Australia releases the minutes from its May meeting in which it held steady at a record low 1.5% and signaled a largely neutral bias on policy.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was last quoted down 0.05% to 98.76.
Overnight, the dollar fell against a basket of major currencies on Monday, after weaker than expected U.S. manufacturing data weighed on sentiment while a surge in the Canadian dollar added to downside momentum.
The Federal Reserve Bank of New York said its Empire State manufacturing index fell last month to minus 1, from 5.2 in April, as new orders dipped and shipment grew more quickly.
The softer manufacturing print dented traders’ expectations for a June rate – according to investing.com’s Fed rate monitor tool 70% of traders expect the Federal Reserve to hike its benchmark rate in June compared to nearly 80% of traders in the previous week.
Meanwhile, oil-sensitive currencies soared, after Saudi and Russian energy ministers said on Monday that they would support an extension of the supply-cut agreement into 2018.