US dollar off six-week lows vs yen, little response to Mueller report

[TOKYO] The US dollar edged back from a six-week low against the yen early on Monday, as a degree of calm returned to the market gripped by fears of a recession in the US.

The greenback had tumbled on Friday as the spread between 3-month Treasury bills and 10-year note yields inverted for the first time since 2007 following weak US manufacturing PMI data.

An inverted yield curve has historically signalled an impending recession.

Cautious comments from the US Federal Reserve last week had also raised worries about the growth outlook in the US and the rest of the world.

The US dollar was up roughly 0.2 per cent at 110.13 yen after sinking to 109.745 on Friday, its lowest since Feb 11.

"The dollar's slide on Friday appeared to have been an algo-led reaction to the yield curve inversion and quite simply overdone. Some bargain hunting by market participants emerged to support dollar/yen," said Yukio Ishizuki, senior currency strategist at Daiwa Securities in Tokyo.

"The response, on the other hand, to the Mueller report has been limited."

Special Counsel Robert Mueller found no evidence of collusion between President Donald Trump's campaign team and Russia, and did not present enough evidence to warrant charging Mr Trump with obstruction of justice, US Attorney General William Barr said on Sunday.

The US dollar index was unchanged at 96.651 after scraping out a gain of 0.15 per cent on Friday.

The euro was little changed at US$1.1297. The common currency has lost roughly 0.7 per cent on Friday after a much weaker-than-expected German manufacturing survey raised concerns for Europe's biggest economy and the wider euro zone.

The Australian dollar, viewed as liquid proxy for global growth, stood little changed at US$0.7077.

The pound was 0.1 per cent lower at US$1.32.

Sterling had rallied 0.8 per cent on Friday, helped by a weaker euro and after European Union (EU) leaders gave British Prime Minister Theresa May a two-week reprieve to decide how Britain will leave the EU.

REUTERS