The dollar rose against its peers Tuesday, boosted by the prospect of another Donald Trump presidency which fueled talk of tax cuts and a fresh spike in inflation, pushing up yields and denting hopes for interest rate cuts.
The greenback pushed back to 38-year highs against the yen, putting Japanese authorities on alert after they previously warned they were ready to intervene in forex markets to support the unit.
Last week’s poor debate performance by incumbent president Joe Biden against Republican rival Trump and Monday’s United States Supreme Court ruling that all former leaders had “absolute immunity” from criminal prosecution for “official acts” taken while in office but could still face criminal penalties for “unofficial acts,” drove speculation about a second term for Trump.
“Those two headlines, and given the reaction to President Biden’s first debate, continue to suggest a Trump presidency is looking more likely at this stage,” Tapas Strickland at National Australia Bank said in a commentary.
Biden warned Monday that the Court’s landmark ruling on presidential immunity sets a “dangerous precedent” that Trump would exploit if elected in November.
“For all practical purposes today’s decision almost certainly means there are no limits to what a president can do. This is a fundamentally new principle, and it’s a dangerous precedent,” Biden said in a speech at the White House.
Trump is facing criminal charges over his attempts to overturn his 2020 election loss to Biden, but that trial had been put on hold while the Supreme Court considered his immunity claims.
The 6-3 ruling on Monday, split along ideological lines, is set to further delay proceedings in that case, almost certainly to sometime after voters head to the polls in November.
“The American people must decide if they want to entrust... once again, the presidency to Donald Trump, now knowing he’ll be more emboldened to do whatever he pleases, whenever he wants to do it,” Biden said.
Conservative Chief Justice John Roberts, in his majority opinion, said a president is “not above the law” but does have “absolute immunity” from criminal prosecution for official acts taken while in office.