Asian session review: the US dollar rose slightly against most currencies

During today's Asian trading, the US dollar rose slightly against the pound, but weakened against the yen and the australian dollar.

The ICE index, which tracks the dollar's performance against six currencies (euro, swiss franc, yen, canadian dollar, pound sterling and swedish krona), rose 0.04%.

US President Joe Biden on Friday unveiled a budget plan to increase government spending to $6 trillion in the 2022 fiscal year, which starts on October 1, 2021.

Biden in his budget plan proposes to cancel a number of tax cuts undertaken under the previous US President Donald Trump. So, the corporate income tax rate should return to 28%, and the tax rate on capital gains for the wealthiest citizens - to the level of 39.6%.

Meanwhile, data from the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry of Japan showed that retail sales in Japan in April 2021 jumped by 12% compared to the same month last year. The growth rate accelerated significantly compared to March (5.2%) and was the highest since March 1997. Experts expected a more significant increase - by 15.3%.

In the meantime, data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed that China’s factory activity growth slowed slightly in May as raw materials costs grew at their fastest pace in over a decade. The official manufacturing PMI inched lower to 51.0 in May, against analyst expectations that it would remain unchanged from April at 51.1. The official PMI has stood above the 50-point mark that separates growth from contraction for over a year. In the services sector, activity expanded for the 15th straight month, and at a faster pace, with the non-manufacturing PMI index rising to 55.2 from 54.9 the month before.