The US dollar hovered near its lowest level in five months against its main competitors on Monday, under pressure from President Donald Trump's erratic trade policies and a series of weak macroeconomic data. The dollar index, which measures currency against the euro, yen and four other counterparts, was little changed at 103.71 early in the Asian morning, less than 0.5% from a five-month low of 103.21 hit last Tuesday. The dollar was little changed at 148.70 yen, not moving much from last Tuesday's low of 146.545, the weakest level since Oct. 4. The dollar weakened by 0.15% to 7.2266 yuan on the offshore market, returning to Wednesday's low of 7.2158, the weakest level since November

The Australian and New Zealand dollars kicked off a busy week of global central bank meetings, a monetary policy announcement in China, and national economic data on Monday. Both currencies have been unstable so far in 2025, due to some of their recent stability due to an unstable US dollar, which kept them from falling as global markets worried about American growth and a slowdown in trade due to tariffs.

The rand was little changed on Monday morning, as market players seemed to ignore the decision of the United States late last week to expel the South African ambassador, a further sign of the rapid deterioration of relations between the two countries.