Dollar on course for fourth monthly drop, yen steadies as Suga runs for PM

The dollar is set to fall for the fourth straight month on Monday, its longest losing streak since 2017. The yen steadied after news that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s longtime lieutenant Yoshihide Suga joined the race to succeed him as Japan’s leader.

The Japanese yen fell 0.2% to $105.55 in early morning trade. It rose to as far as $104.195 on Friday when Abe announced his resignation as prime minister over health reasons.

The dollar steadied after an early-morning pressure. For the month of August, it is down 1% against the euro, while the dollar index is down almost 1.3%. 

Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s speech on Thursday outlined the shift in the central bank’s approach to inflation, which investors saw as clues that rates would stay lower for longer. 

The euro rose 0.1% to $1.1921 in early Asian trade, while the pound stood at $1.3358. 

Aside from focusing on Japan, investors are also awaiting U.S. opinion polls and payrolls numbers, as well as China’s Purchasing Managers’ Index data. Chinese PMI are expected to show a rise in factory activity in August.

The yuan touched a new seven-month high of 6.8560 in offshore trade. The Aussie hit a 21-month peak of $0.7369 before retreating, while the kiwi sat at $0.6739.