The US dollar slid after US President Trump complained about its strength. The sell-off extended into early Asian activity, before stabilizing. It is mixed in late morning European turnover, which is already lightening up due to the extended Easter holiday. 

The dollar bloc is stronger, led by the Australian dollar’s 0.8% advance that was encouraged by an employment report that was considerably stronger than expected. Australia added nearly 61k jobs, three times more than the median forecast in the Bloomberg survey and the February series was revised from a loss of 6.4k jobs to gain of 2.8k. These jobs are full-time.In fact, full-time positions rose 74.5k, while part-time positions fell 13.6k. Even the unchanged unemployment rate of 5.9% was impressive given that the participation rate rose to 64.8% from 64.6%.  

The Australian dollar may also be attracting flows over the holiday period. Also, strong trade figures from China may have also helped. China reported a March trade surplus of nearly $24 bln, which nearly twice as large as expected. Exports jumped 16.4% year-over-year, after a 4% rise in the January-February period (viewed together due to the Lunar New Year distortions). Imports rose 20.3%, moderating fro 26.4% increase in January-February.  

Of note, China imported a record amount of oil in March, pushing it ahead of the US as the largest buyer in the first three months of 2017. Stocking piling and strong demand by booming refiners coupled with a decline in domestic output appear to be the driver. China’s oil output in January-February fell 8% year-over-year after output fell last year. In contrast, the US official data yesterday showed US oil output at the highest in more than a year, though inventories slipped from a record.  

Trump’s comments are the main talking point today. His claim that the dollar is too strong is not new, but it is the first time he has ventured down that path since the inauguration. His comments follow a three-month decline in the broad measure of the dollar. If a leader of another country said what he did, they likely would be accused of manipulating their currency. That said, in the US Treasury’s criteria of currency manipulation, jawboning does not count. Still, it seems a departure from the G7 and G20 agreements, and like areas, this is an example of unilateralism.