Sydney — The dollar was put on the defensive in Asia on Wednesday after the Trump administration accused Germany and Japan of devaluing their currencies to gain a trade advantage, fuelling a risk-off mood that also kept stocks subdued. The US currency suffered its worst January in three decades after President Donald Trump complained that every "other country lives on devaluation". Just hours earlier his top trade adviser said Germany was using a "grossly undervalued" euro to exploit its trading partners. The accusations drew rebuttals from German and Japanese officials, but looked likely to run for some time. "Suspicions that Washington may increasingly focus on the value of the dollar were catapulted into the limelight," ANZ analysts said in a note. "The early policy implication is that dollar competitiveness could have a prominent role to play in Trump’s ‘America first’ agenda." The dollar did recoup a little of its losses as the Asian session wore on, edging up to ¥112.,94 from ...
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