Dollar In Doldrums Over Tax Reform Worries

The US Dollar continues to be under pressure in Asian trading and is poised to record a loss for the week on investor disappointment over the latest tax reform proposals. Both the US Senate and the US House of Representatives have put forth differing bills, one of which would delay implantation of the proposed corporate tax cut until 2019. Both bills do call for a tax cut of 15% for corporations, but there is disagreement on taxes on foreign profits. Moreover, either of the bills could increase the national debt by about $1.5 trillion over a decade, an issue likely to cause a great outcry among Democrats. As a result of these concerns, the greenback is markedly and broadly lower.

As reported at 10:33 am (JST) in Tokyo, the USD/JPY is trading at 113.307 Yen, down 0.12%; the pair is ranging from 113.230 Yen to 113.530 Yen in today’s trading. The EUR/USD is higher at $1.1646, a gain of 0.02%; the pair has ranged from a low of $1.16370 to a peak of $1.16545 in the session. The AUD/USD is trading at $0.7679, a gain of 0.05%; the pair is off the session peak of $0.76896 while the low is at $0.76630.

Aussie Shrugs off RBA Concerns

The Aussie Dollar is recovering from some earlier pressure after the Reserve Bank of Australian issued its latest economic forecast. The RBA indicated that it continued to be watchful of the Aussie Dollar’s strength relative to the impact that could have on inflation and wage growth. Initially, that weighed on the Aussie Dollar but investors shrugged off any uncertainty and the AUD/USD recovered quickly.