Dollar slides to decade-low vs Swiss franc as U.S. assets hit by loss of confidence

Analysts see waning confidence in U.S. assets due to Trump trade policies, leading to market fluctuations and gold surge.

The dollar slumped on Friday (April 11, 2025) as waning confidence in the U.S. economy prompted investors to ditch U.S. assets to the benefit of safe havens such as the Swiss franc, yen and euro, as well as gold.

The yellow metal recorded a new all-time peak, and the franc notched a fresh decade high.

Investors dumped Wall Street stocks overnight, as a powerful relief rally on Wednesday (April 9, 2025) - when President Donald Trump abruptly paused higher tariff rates on dozens of trading partners - reversed course in a frenetic 24-hour period for markets. Longer-dated U.S. Treasuries are also selling off, putting 10-year yields on course for their biggest weekly jump since 2001.

Mr. Trump’s 90-day respite, which came despite his insistence for days that his policies would never change, didn’t include China. Instead, he ratcheted up duties on Chinese imports to an effective 145% rate, further escalating a high-stakes confrontation between the world’s two largest economies.

The Chinese yuan had tumbled to an all-time low in offshore trading on Tuesday (April 8, 2025), but erased all those losses a day later, and surged again on Thursday (April 10, 2025). It initially strengthened in the latest session as well, before trading slightly weaker.

“There has been a pronounced ‘sell U.S.’ vibe flowing through broad markets and into the classic safe-haven assets, with the USD losing the safe-haven bid,” said Chris Weston, head of research at Pepperstone.

“The moves (have) the feel of repatriation flows by foreign entities, with many re-focused on the idea that Mr. Trump’s reluctant pause on tariffs was due to increased system risk and migrating capital away from Ground Zero.”