By Kevin Buckland
TOKYO (Reuters) – The U.S. dollar traded close to a four-month peak versus major peers on Tuesday, while bitcoin extended its record rally as investors continued to pile into trades seen as benefiting from the incoming Donald Trump administration.
The euro languished near an almost seven-month trough reached overnight, while the yuan wallowed close to a more than three-month low with Europe and China both particular targets of potential Trump tariffs.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the currency against six peers including the euro, rose 0.07% to 105.49 as of 0037 GMT, after reaching 105.70 on Monday for the first time since July 3.
Leading cryptocurrency bitcoin pushed to a new all-time high of $89,637 on Tuesday. Trump has vowed to make the United States “the crypto capital of the planet”.
“If history is any guide, Bitcoin could easily finish the year around $100,000,” said Kyle Rodda, a senior financial markets analyst at Capital.com.
Meanwhile, “the expectation of U.S. economic outperformance and aggressive trade practices from the Trump administration continues to push the U.S. dollar higher,” Rodda said.
“Markets are dialling back expectations of Fed cuts going forward, with a cut at the December meeting being thrown into question.”
Trump’s Republican Party will control both houses of Congress when he takes office in January, Decision Desk HQ projected on Monday. That would enable him to push an agenda of slashing taxes and shrinking the federal government.
Potentially inflationary tariffs and immigration policies have seen market odds of a quarter point Federal Reserve interest rate cut on Dec. 18 pared to about 65% from nearly 80% a week ago, according to CME Group’s FedWatch Tool.
Trump has warned the euro bloc it will “pay a big price” for not buying enough American exports, with cars a particular target of the incoming U.S. President. He has threatened China with blanket 60% tariffs.
The offshore yuan dipped as low as 7.2337 per dollar on Monday, the weakest since Aug. 2, before last trading at 7.2241.
The euro sank to $1.0629 overnight for the first time since April 22, and last changed hands at $1.0658.
The shared currency is feeling additional pressure from political uncertainty in the bloc’s biggest economy, Germany. Chancellor Olaf Sholz’s remaining coalition partner, the Greens, on Monday joined opposition calls for an earlier parliamentary vote to open the way to a snap election.
Sterling was little changed at $1.28645.
The yen edged towards last week’s three-month low of 154.715 per dollar, losing about 0.1% to 153.865, following a 0.7% slide overnight.
(Reporting by Kevin Buckland; Editing by Christian Schmollinger)
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