Trump slump hits the global markets

THE dollar fell to its lowest since November against a basket of currencies on Monday as investors lost confidence in prospects for a US fiscal spending boost under President Donald Trump after his failure to pass a major healthcare reform bill.

Trump’s inability to deliver on his campaign pledge to overhaul the nation’s healthcare system marked a big setback for a Republican president whose own party controls Congress, and raised doubts over whether he will be able to see through tax reforms and a proposed spike in spending.

The dollar was down 0.65pc on the day against the basket of major currencies used to measure its broader strength. It fell as low as 98.858, the lowest since November 11th.

Oil prices have been falling since the middle of the month, as a spate of reports showing stronger-than-expected growth in US inventories sparked selling from speculators that had build record long positions in crude futures.

Last week’s futures data showed speculators were still unwinding long positions as high US inventories offset cuts from other oil producers. Long positions as of last Tuesday were at their lowest since December.

The Iseq overall index of Irish shares fell by 50.19 points, or 0.76pc, to close at 6562.15. Oil and gas stocks were the biggest losers of the day, with Petroneft down almost 16pc and Ormonde Mining losing 15pc in value.

The NTMA has bought back and cancelled the latest €500m batch of bonds linked to the liquidation of the former Anglo Irish Bank.

The bonds bought back from the Central Bank were issued in 2013 as part of the liquidation of Irish Bank Resolution Corporation (IBRC).

That complex deal saw the Central Bank acquire €25.03bn of eight long-dated so-called Floating Rate Notes (FRNs), and €3.461bn of the Irish Government 2025 Fixed Rate Bond, which was due to mature in March 2025.