Investing.com - The dollar extended its loss against the major Asian currencies on Friday morning in Asia as U.S. President Donald Trump ordered trade officials to consider new tariffs on China, creating a bearish economic outlook that again sent the safe-haven yen higher this week. Investors also await the nonfarm payrolls data due later in the day.
The U.S. dollar index that tracks the greenback against a basket of six major currencies last stood at 90.03 at 11:00PM ET (03:00 GMT), down 0.10%. It dropped from an overnight high at 90.26 to the 90 level.
Trump ordered trade representative Robert Lighthizer to consider additional tariffs on $100 billion of Chinese imports, escalating the trade conflicts between the world’s two largest economies. The financial markets remain sensitive to the developments of a possible full-blown trade war.
In addition, U.S. nonfarm payrolls are estimated to have grown by 193,000 in March, compared with a 313,000 gain in February. The unemployment rate is also expected to slide 0.1 percentage point to 4.0%.
In China, the USD/CNY pair edged up 0.03% to trade at 6.3072. China’s central bank was closed due to public holiday on Friday.
In response, China’s state media said Friday that Beijing will defend its interests "against new U.S. actions." On Wednesday, the country also said it would levy a 25% tariff on about $50 billion of U.S. imports including soybeans, automobiles chemicals and aircraft.
The USD/JPY pair eased 0.16% to 107.25. The pair broke the 107 level and reached 107.46 overnight. The safe-haven yen attracted demand in times of market uncertainty due to U.S. trade actions against China that roiled the global market.
Elsewhere, the AUD/USD pair gained 0.07% to trade at 0.7689. The sentiment-linked Aussie climbed up against a softer dollar.