U.S. Dollar Index Erases Postelection Gains

The ICE U.S. Dollar index , which measures the greenbuck against a basket of six major rivals, on Wednesday fell to its lowest level since Nov. 8 and erased its entire post-election gains. The index is down 0.6% to 97.55 and down 4.6% year to date. The dollar fell sharply against the euro and the yen on Wednesday. One euro bought $1.1150 while the dollar bought �111.05. The dollar rallied to a 14-year high after Donald Trump was elected as the 45th U.S. president with investors betting on his pro-growth economic policy and tighter monetary policy from the Federal Reserve. However, the dollar began to lose its luster from mid-December, partly due to softer economic data, lack of concrete steps toward tax reforms and partly due to continued political uncertainty, highlighted by a New York Times story that alleges that Trump asked then-director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, James Comey, to end an investigation into former National Security adviser Michael Flynn back in February, a day after the security adviser resigned. Comey was fired last week as the FBI was investigating ties between Russia and Trump's presidential campaign.