Against a basket of currencies, the dollar fell to a 10-week low of 97.767, and is on track to lose 9.9% for the year, which would be ‌its steepest annual drop since 2003. “The US dollar risk premium widened in December which suggests USD weakness may reflect growing concerns around Fed ⁠independence, not just the monetary policy outlook,” HSBC analysts said in a currency outlook report. That has ‌in ‍turn lifted the two Antipodean currencies, with the Australian dollar, up 8.4% to date, scaling a three-month peak of $0.6710 on Wednesday. The New Zealand dollar similarly touched a 10-week high of $0.58475, having risen 4.5% for the year thus far. Among developing economy currencies in Asia, the Thai baht has surged 10% this year because of dollar weakness, causing major headaches for exporters and policy makers.

Source: Bangkok Post December 24, 2025 13:51 UTC