(Bloomberg) -- Emerging market currencies rose as the dollar continued to retreat amid worries over the independence of the Federal Reserve.
A gauge of developing market currencies advanced 0.3% on Monday. Last week it gained 0.8%, the most in six weeks. The Bloomberg Asia Dollar Index also rose Monday, with the Thai baht and the Malaysian ringgit outperforming.
The weakness in the dollar drew fresh momentum after US President Donald Trump contemplated the possibility of firing Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, raising worries over the independence of the central bank. That sent the Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index tumbling to the lowest level since January 2024 on Monday after weakening for three consecutive weeks.
The prospect of Powell’s removal is adding to the headwinds surrounding US assets, which have been caught in a downdraft after Washington’s aggressive tariffs fueled worries about a recession.
Emerging-market stocks and currencies have seen some reprieve in recent sessions, clocking their best week since early March last week amid optimism over China’s economy and Trump’s tariff reprieves. EM stocks rose for the sixth time in the past seven sessions on Monday as Chinese and India equities advanced.
“We believe dollar weakness will continue,” Win Thin and Elias Haddad, strategists at Brown Brothers Harriman & Co., wrote in a note. “However, we also continue to believe that the global growth outlook will deteriorate sharply this year and so recent gains in growth-sensitive major currencies and EM FX are unlikely to be unsustainable.”
--With assistance from Malavika Kaur Makol.