(Adds comments, FX table, updates prices, changes byline, dateline previous LONDON)
- Trump doubles down on Fed criticism
- Chinese yuan midpoint fixing weakest in a year
- Graphic: World FX rates in 2018 http://tmsnrt.rs/2egbfVh
The dollar fell across the board on Friday, as the latest comments from U.S. President Donald Trump complaining about the strength of the greenback and the rise in U.S. interest rates squashed a rally that took it to a one-year high the previous session.
The dollar index, a measure of its value against a basket of six major currencies, was on track to post its largest one-day loss in three weeks. Against the yen, the dollar was on pace for its worst daily fall in two months.
Trump on Friday repeated his criticism of the Fed's interest rate policy and the strong dollar. He said on Twitter that the Fed's policy on raising interest rates takes away from the United States' "big competitive edge" and could hurt the U.S. economy. .
That followed CNBC's interview of Trump who said a strong dollar put the United States at a disadvantage and he was ready to place tariffs on $500 billion of imported goods from China
. Some market participants though were skeptical of thelong-term impact of Trump's remarks.
"This is more noise than direction as he alone will likely yield little to no influence over Fed decision-making," said Mazen Issa, senior FX strategist, at TD Securities in New York.
"At this juncture, few alternatives exist at this time to check U.S. dollar firmness," he added.
In the short term, however, his remarks gave an excuse for traders to pocket some profits on the dollar's recent strength.
Against a basket of other currencies .DXY , the dollar was 0.6 percent weaker at 94.565, just below the one-year high of 95.62 it reached in the previous session.
Despite the ratcheting higher of trade tensions, the dollar was still up 3 percent over the last three months, supported by expectations the U.S. central bank will keep raising interest rates in the coming months.
YUAN HIGHER Trump's comments on trade pulled the yuan more than half a percent lower in London before the Chinese currency CNH=D3 rose to 6.7804 per dollar in the New York session. Over the last three months, the yuan has fallen more than 8 percent against the U.S. dollar.
The People's Bank of China dropped the midpoint CNY=PBOC for a seventh straight trading day to 6.7671 per dollar on Friday, or 0.9 percent weaker than the previous fix of 6.7066.
Friday's fixing was the lowest since July 14, 2017, and represented the biggest one-day weakening in percentage terms since June 27, 2016.
A soft patch in the dollar, meanwhile, prompted some relatively high-yielding currencies to regain some balance. Safe-haven currencies such as the Swiss franc CHF= also remain well supported, with the dollar down 0.5 percent at 0.9945 franc.
The euro EUR= was also higher, up 0.6 percent at $1.1717.
======================================================== Currency bid prices at 10:13AM (1413 GMT)Description RIC Last U.S. Close Pct Change YTD Pct High Bid Low Bid Previous Change Session Euro/Dollar EUR= $1.1710 $1.1641 +0.59% -2.38% +1.1723 +1.1627 Dollar/Yen JPY= 111.6500 112.4500 -0.71% -0.91% +112.6100 +111.6300 Euro/Yen EURJPY= 130.77 130.92 -0.11% -3.26% +131.2000 +130.6100 Dollar/Swiss CHF= 0.9940 0.9990 -0.50% +2.01% +1.0010 +0.9939 Sterling/Dollar GBP= 1.3100 1.3012 +0.68% -3.05% +1.3115 +1.2996 Dollar/Canadian CAD= 1.3127 1.3268 -1.06% +4.37% +1.3289 +1.3114 Australian/Doll AUD= 0.7415 0.7358 +0.77% -4.95% +0.7421 +0.7319 arEuro/Swiss EURCHF= 1.1640 1.1631 +0.08% -0.42% +1.1654 +1.1627 Euro/Sterling EURGBP= 0.8936 0.8944 -0.09% +0.60% +0.8957 +0.8933 NZ NZD= 0.6799 0.6744 +0.82% -4.05% +0.6804 +0.6721 Dollar/DollarDollar/Norway NOK= 8.1916 8.2326 -0.50% -0.19% +8.2481 +8.1835 Euro/Norway EURNOK= 9.5933 9.5870 +0.07% -2.59% +9.6200 +9.5657 Dollar/Sweden SEK= 8.8716 8.9120 +0.15% +8.17% +8.9273 +8.8609 Euro/Sweden EURSEK= 10.3896 10.3740 +0.15% +5.60% +10.4085 +10.3680 <^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ U.S. dollar: Speculative positions http//reut.rs/2LxpAZZ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^>
