Investing.com - The U.S. dollar fell on Friday after U.S. President Donald Trump criticized the Federal Reserve for increasing interest rates but was still on target for a second week of gains.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a basket of six major currencies, was down 0.15% to 94.84 as of 5:36 AM ET (9:36 GMT).
Despite the dip, the dollar was on target for a second straight week of gains and has risen more than 5% in the last three months due to expectations that interest rates will rise.
Trump said in an interview on CNBC that he does not approve of how the Fed is approaching monetary policy. The Fed raised rates twice this year and is expected to raise rates at least once more before the end of the year.
“I’m not thrilled,” Trump said. “Because we go up and every time you go up they want to raise rates again. I don't really — I am not happy about it. But at the same time I’m letting them do what they feel is best.”
Meanwhile trade tensions continued, with the European Union expected to retaliate against the U.S. with more tariffs after America imposed tariffs on steel and aluminum in June. Tariffs on around $3.8 billion of U.S. goods have already been imposed by Europe.
The dollar was lower against the safe-haven yen, with USD/JPY decreasing 0.06% to 112.39. In times of uncertainty, investors tend to invest in the Japanese yen, which is considered a safe asset during periods of risk aversion.
Elsewhere the yuan continued to fall against the dollar after China’s central bank weakened its daily reference rate. USD/CNY pair was up 0.10% to 6.7810, with the yean near one-year lows after the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) weakened the fixing by 0.9% to 6.7671 per dollar on Friday.
The pound was also higher, with GBP/USD rising 0.08% to 1.3024. The euro gained ground, with EUR/USD rising 0.11% to 1.1656.