Investing.com - The U.S. dollar was higher on Wednesday as U.S. President Donald Trump once again went after the Federal Reserve for not cutting interest rates as much as he would like.
Trump said in a tweet that the central bank should cut interest rates to zero or less, calling Fed officials “boneheads.”
He said negative interest rates would save the U.S. government money on its debt. Central banks in Europe and Japan introduced negative interest rates in order to try to stimulate the economy, but the lower rates have done little to boost growth or raise inflation in the regions.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a basket of six major currencies, gained 0.4% to 98.653 as of 11:01 AM ET (14:01 GMT).
The Japanese yen, which is seen as a safe haven in times of market turmoil, fell, with USD/JPY rising 0.2% to 107.73.
Sterling was flat as tensions between Prime Minister Boris Johnson and the U.K. parliament continued. A Scottish High Court ruled that Johnson’s decision to suspend parliament was unlawful. An appeal is expected in the Supreme Court next week. GBP/USD was flat at 1.2339 while EUR/USD fell 0.4% to 1.10995 due to the stronger dollar.
And the loonie turned lower after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called for elections on Oct. 21. While not a surprise, it does increase political uncertainty in the country. USD/CAD rose 0.2% to 1.3168.