Morning of April 22: Central exchange rate decreased by 30 VND

The greenback edged up slightly this morning but remained near a three-year low as US President Donald Trump's relentless criticism of the Federal Reserve Chairman eroded investor confidence in the US economy .

The greenback fell to near a decade low against the Swiss franc on Tuesday and traded around a 3-1/2-year trough against the euro.

On Monday, Mr. Trump continued to criticize Fed Chairman Jerome Powell in a post on the social network Truth Social, calling Mr. Powell a “big loser” and demanding an “immediate” interest rate cut, or the US economy could face the risk of recession.

Earlier on Friday, White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett said the president and his team were still considering firing Mr. Powell, just a day after Mr. Trump declared that “it can’t be too late to fire Powell.”

Mr Trump's comments came after the Fed chairman last week signalled the central bank could be patient in adjusting policy, stressing that interest rates should not be cut until there was more evidence that US tariff policies would not cause persistent inflation.

“There is a serious stalemate between Trump and Powell,” said Eric Kuby, chief investment officer at North Star Investment Management, adding: “This raises concerns that there could be a move to replace Powell, which could cause chaos in the dollar market.”

On the trade front, Mr. Kuby noted that “every day that passes without any agreement to break the deadlock will continue to create uncertainty,” especially as Mr. Trump’s current policies are feared to be damaging to the economy.

Tensions rose as China on Monday accused Washington of tariff abuse and warned other countries to think twice before reaching any comprehensive economic deal with the United States, raising the stakes in the trade war between the world's two largest economies.

Compared to the Japanese yen, the greenback traded at 140.78 JPY/USD this morning, down 0.06%, near the seven-month low of 140.48 JPY/USD recorded on Monday.

The euro fell 0.19% this morning, trading at $1.1493, after jumping to $1.1573 earlier in the week, its highest level since November 2021.

Meanwhile, the pound was steady at $1.3378, after soaring to $1.3421, its highest since September, earlier in the week.

Elsewhere, the risk-sensitive Australian and New Zealand dollars, after rising to four-month peaks earlier in the week, remained around that level, trading at $0.6414 and $0.5996 respectively.

“The longer the doubts about the independence of US monetary policy persist, the more downward pressure will be placed on the greenback,” said Joseph Capurso, head of international and sustainability economics at Commonwealth Bank of Australia, adding: “It would take another sell-off in US government bonds or US stocks to make President Trump stop such statements.”