Dollar drops even as Obama denies report on currency remarks

The dollar fell on Monday, backing away from near 13-year highs against the yen, after a news report cited President Barack Obama as saying he was worried about a strong dollar, even though the report was denied by the White House.



"The dollar is off this morning because of the headline about a strong dollar from Obama," said Alvin Tan, currency strategist at Societe Generale.
 
The euro climbed more than 0.8 percent to more than $1.12 against the dollar, helped by a rise in German bund yields and solid German data that stoked optimism about the euro zone's economic prospects.

Both Obama and White House officials denied a Bloomberg report Monday that cited him as saying a strong dollar was a problem. The report came after reporters met France's President Francois Hollande ahead of the second day of the G7 summit.

Despite the denials, currency investors were wary as Federal Reserve and other U.S. officials have, over the past few months, expressed concerns about the impact of a robust greenback on growth and exports.

The dollar was last off 0.2 percent at 125.22 yen, having hit a 13-year high of 125.86 yen on Friday after a rosy U.S. jobs report.

The dollar index .DXY was down 0.50 percent.


Reuters