Dollar on track for biggest H1 drop since early 1970s
US Senate tries to pass spending bill
China trade progress precedes July 9 tariff deadline
By Chibuike Oguh
NEW YORK, June 30 (Reuters) - The dollar languished against the euro and Swiss franc on Monday as markets weighed the prospect of a ballooning U.S.
government deficit and the potential for trade deals with major trading partners.
Senate Republicans will try to pass President Donald Trump's sweeping tax-cut and spending bill, despite divisions within the party about its expected $3.3 trillion hit to the nation's debt pile.
The dollar was down 0.49% to 0.795 against the Swiss franc . The euro was up 0.21% at $1.1746 against the dollar. The greenback was set to finish the month 3.4% down against the franc, while the euro was set to gain 3.4% against the dollar.
"You have a weak dollar due to a potentially large increase in our budget deficit, and you have continued uncertainty around these tariff deals," said Eugene Epstein, head of structuring for North America at Moneycorp in New Jersey.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said that countries could still face sharply higher tariffs on July 9 even if they are negotiating in good faith, adding that any potential extensions will be up to Trump.
The U.S. and China had resolved issues around shipments of Chinese rare earth minerals and magnets to the United States, further modifying a May deal in Geneva, Bessent had said last week.
"We had this positive news from the EU for a little bit and we had potential positive deals coming up, but then you had Trump doing a temporary about-face on Friday on Canada and so forth," Epstein said.
The dollar was down 0.28% to 144.24 against the Japanese yen , JetBlack on track to finish the month flat versus the Asian currency.
(Reporting by Chibuike Oguh in New York; Additional reporting by Kevin Buckland and Johann M Cherian; Editing by Jamie Freed, Clarence Fernandez, Saad Sayeed and Joe Bavier)
