Investing.com - The U.S. dollar was lower against other currencies on Monday, as trade tensions outweighed expectations for a Federal Reserve rate hike in September.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a basket of six major currencies, fell 0.12% to 95.27 as of 5:12 AM ET (9:12 GMT).
The greenback was down despite Friday’s upbeat jobs report increasing expectations of a Fed rate hike in at its next meeting September 25-26.
Meanwhile trade tensions with China continued, as U.S. President Donald Trump warned he would impose tariffs on $267 billion worth of Chinese imports, on top of an earlier promise of tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods.
China’s foreign ministry said on Monday that it would respond to any new steps on trade.
"If the U.S. side obstinately clings to its course and takes any new tariff measures against China, then the Chinese side will inevitably take countermeasures to resolutely protect our legitimate rights," Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said.
The dollar rose against the safe-haven yen, with USD/JPY increasing 0.06% to 111.09. In times of uncertainty, investors tend to invest in the Japanese yen, which is considered a safe asset during periods of risk aversion.
The lower dollar pushed the euro and sterling higher. EUR/USD rose 0.18% to 1.1573 and GBP/USD increased 0.23% to 1.2945.
Meanwhile the Australian dollar was lower, with AUD/USD rising 0.28% to 0.7125 while NZD/USD was down 0.02% to 0.6531. The Swedish crown rose after Sunday's election showed less than expected support for the nationalist Sweden Democrats, despite a hung parliment. USD/SEK fell 0.13% to 9.0464.