Trump, data weigh on dollar after worst fall since July

The dollar recovered around half a percent against the yen in Asian trading after a combination of recently poor US data and revelations about the investigation of Trump's ties to Russian Federation drove its biggest daily fall since last July. The meeting took place the day after Trump fired Federal Bureau of Investigation Director James Comey, who had been leading an investigation into possible ties between the president and Russian Federation.

MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe .MIWD00000PUS fell 1 percent, while European shares .FTEU3 ended down 1.4 percent.

"Markets have displayed a [.] level of trepidation over the last 24 hours with politics being the dominant theme", Jim Reid, strategist at Deutsche Bank, wrote in a morning update.

By 0740 GMT, the dollar index was virtually unchanged at 97.616, having fallen as low as 97.333 on Wednesday, its lowest since November 9.

This resilience came through in later trading, with most Asian markets closing less than one per cent off, save for Japan, whose Nikkei index shed 1.32 per cent.

Optimism over pro-growth policies under Trump drove a sharp rally in USA stocks after the November 8 US election. US crude prices were up 1.1 percent at $52.21 a barrel after of USA crude inventory data.

Market demand for safe-haven currencies soared on Wednesday, with Japanese yen rising over 1.8 percent against the dollar during the session. The situation seems to be similar for European Shares which are expected to lower down by 0.6 percent for GDAXI of Germany, Britain's FTSE is expected to decline by 0.2 percent and France's CAC is expected to decline by 0.4 percent. USA stocks were poised for a lower opening with Dow futures and the broader S&P 500 futures down 0.4 percent.

In April, the yen had firmed to the low 108 yen-range against the dollar, but temporarily softened on speculation that the U.S. Federal Reserve would raise interest rates, expanding the Japan-U.S. rate differential.

It last stood at 97.588, flat from late US trade, and down more than 2 percent over the past four sessions. The dollar bought 112.30 yen, well down from levels above 114 yen seen last week.

Brent crude LCOc1 gained 1.1 percent to settle at $52.21 per barrel, while USA light crude CLc1 rose 0.8 percent to settle at $49.07.

Swirling uncertainty over U.S. President Donald Trump's political future saw world stocks extend their steepest fall in over six months on Thursday, though there were signs of stabilisation elsewhere as the dollar and gold steadied.

The S&P 500 was 1.8% off at 2,357 points.

The dollar took a beating, as the euro broke above $1.11 to levels not seen since Trump's election win in November, while the yen was also piling pressure on the United States unit.

The benchmark 10-year Treasury yield was at 2.239 percent after going as low as 2.209 percent overnight, its lowest since April 21.

Against the euro, it edged up to 1.0917 per euro versus Friday's eight-month high of 1.0987.

Brent crude settled 56 cents firmer at $52.21, a 1.1 percent gain, while USA light crude closed 41 cents higher at $49.07, its highest close since April 28. ​ Gold rose to a two-week high on Wednesday as political turmoil in the United States reduced expectations of aggressive interest rate rises this year, pushed down US bond yields and drove the dollar to its lowest in six months. Spot gold XAU= hit $1,263.02 an ounce, its highest since May 1.