Dollar poised for worst first 100 days of presidency since Nixon

George Lei and Anya Andrianova

Fri, Apr 25, 2025, 1:20 PM 3 min read

A dollar gauge is connected way for its worst show during the archetypal 100 days of a U.S. presidency successful information going backmost to the Nixon era, erstwhile America abandoned the golden modular and switched to a free-floating speech rate.

The U.S. dollar scale has mislaid astir 9% betwixt Jan. 20 — erstwhile Donald Trump returned to the White House — and April 25, putting it connected people for the biggest nonaccomplishment done the extremity of the period since astatine slightest 1973.

The president’s archetypal 100 days successful bureau successful caller decades person been marked by spot successful the country’s currency, with returns averaging adjacent to 0.9% betwixt 1973, erstwhile Richard Nixon began his 2nd term, and 2021, erstwhile Joe Biden took office.

Meant arsenic a impermanent measure, the alleged Nixon daze of 1971 caused the dollar to drop, efficaciously ending the Bretton Woods strategy of fixed speech rates established aft the extremity of World War II.

Trump during the aboriginal innings of his 2nd presidency followed done connected assorted run pledges, introducing caller tariffs and dialing up the rhetoric against China and different U.S. trading partners. His tariff argumentation has led investors to heap into assets extracurricular the United States, weakening the greenback and lifting different currencies alongside gold.

The euro, Swiss franc and yen person risen much than 8% each against the dollar since Trump’s instrumentality to the presidency.

“The ubiquity of the U.S. dollar and its relation successful planetary commercialized and concern came with heavy spot successful U.S. institutions, debased commercialized and superior barriers arsenic good arsenic a predictable overseas policy,” said Bipan Rai, a managing manager astatine BMO Global Asset Management.

“Now? There are wide signs of erosion which points to alteration successful planetary plus allocation trends which don’t favour the U.S. dollar. We consciousness this is simply a structural shift,” helium said.

Trump’s argumentation initiatives person besides accrued the hazard of a U.S. recession combined with reaccelerating inflation, limiting the standard of imaginable involvement complaint cuts by the Federal Reserve.

The president’s comments astir Fed Chair Jerome Powell — particularly his menace to occurrence him — person enactment investors connected alert, elevating concerns implicit the U.S. cardinal bank’s independence. Trump aboriginal said helium had nary volition of firing Powell.

UBS Group AG arsenic a effect cut its dollar forecast for the 2nd clip successful little than 2 months. Analysts stated that the greenback’s show hinges connected the result of the U.S.-China standoff, which hasn’t seen overmuch advancement successful caller weeks.