Investing.com - The dollar steadied against a currency basket on Monday following steep declines after U.S. President Donald Trump expressed discomfort with the greenback's strength, while the yen pared back early gains.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a basket of six major currencies, edged up to 94.31 by 09:57 AM ET (13:57 GMT) from an earlier low of 93.98.
The index fell 0.77% on Friday, its largest one-day percentage decline in three weeks, retreating from the one-year high of 95.44 reached on Thursday.
The dollar came under pressure after Trump launched an attack on the Federal Reserve on Thursday, claiming that their plans to raise U.S. interest rates risked undermining his efforts at strengthening the economy.
Trump ratcheted up his criticism of the Fed on Friday, taking to Twitter to claim that tighter monetary policy was penalizing the U.S. by contributing to a stronger dollar.
He also accused China and the European Union of currency and interest-rate manipulation that he claims has put the U.S. at a disadvantage.
The dollar was lower against the yen, with USD/JPY down 0.16% at 111.29, after falling as low as 110.75 earlier.
The yen was boosted after Reuters and other media outlets reported that the Bank of Japan is actively discussing changes to its massive monetary stimulus program. The BoJ is due to hold its next policy meeting at the end of the month.
The yen was also higher against the euro, with EUR/JPY down 0.24% to 130.31, still off an earlier low of 129.87.
Against the dollar, the euro gave back early gains, with EUR/USD losing 0.16% to trade at 1.1702.
The pound was also a touch lower, with GBP/USD dipping 0.08% to 1.3119.
Investors were continuing to monitor developments in the intensifying global trade conflict after Trump indicated Friday that he is prepared to slap tariffs on all Chinese imports to the U.S., worth around $500 billion per year.
The U.S. and China have already imposed tariffs on $34 billion worth of each other’s imports.