Investing.com - The pound weakened in Asia on Monday as tension over Brexit and a possible Scottish referendum on independence clouded the outlook while the Aussie ticked higher on company earnings data for the fourth quarter.
In Australia, company gross operating profits soared 20.1% in the fourth quarter, well above the 8.0% gain expected.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, fell 0.05% to 101.07. GBP/USD traded at 1.2426, down 0.29%, while AUD/USD was quoted at 0.7679, up 0.13%. USD/JPY changed hands at 112.02, down 0.12%.
Ahead this week, markets will focus on Trump's address to Congress on Tuesday for further details on his promises of tax reform, deregulation and infrastructure spending as well as a handful of Fed appearances, most importantly Fed Chair Janet Yellen on Friday.
Last week, the dollar ticked higher against a basket of the other major currencies on Friday, shrugging off disappointing U.S. home sales data as investors looked ahead to an upcoming speech by President Donald Trump.
Data on Friday showed that U.S. new home sales rose 3.7% to an annual rate of 555,000 units last month, falling short of forecasts for a 6.3% increase to a 570,000-unit rate.
On Thursday U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said he wants to see "very significant" tax reform passed before Congress' August recess, but indicated that much work was still needed.
Meanwhile, Wednesday’s minutes of the Federal Reserve’s February meeting said it may be appropriate to raise rates again "fairly soon" if jobs and inflation data continues in line with current expectations. But the minutes also noted uncertainty over a lack of clarity on Trump's economic policies and pointed to the risks to the growth outlook from the stronger dollar.