Sydney — The dollar was under pressure in Asia on Tuesday as US President Donald Trump’s focus on trade protectionism fuelled the suspicion his administration might seek a competitive advantage through a weaker currency. The talk of trade wars favoured safe-haven treasuries and the Japanese yen while leaving equities mixed. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan edged up 0.1% but Tokyo’s Nikkei slipped 0.3%. Sentiment took a fresh knock when US treasury secretary nominee Steven Mnuchin told senators that he would work to combat currency manipulation but would not give a clear answer on whether he viewed China as manipulating its yuan. In written answers to a senate finance committee, Mnuchin also reportedly said an excessively strong dollar could be negative in the short term. The dollar duly skidded as far as ¥112.52, breaking last week’s trough and the lowest since late November, before steadying at ¥112.81. Its 1.7% loss on Monday was the largest since July 29...
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