US dollar index falls below 100 for first time since July 2023

The U.S. dollar index sagged as much as 1.2 percent on Friday, taking it below the 100 mark for the first time since July 2023 as uncertainties of Trump's trade policies impact investor sentiment and attitudes.

The index serves as a benchmark for the U.S. dollar's exchange rate in the global foreign exchange market.

It is a weighted measure of the strength of the U.S. dollar that calculates the change in the exchange rate of the U.S. dollar against six major currencies -- the euro, Japanese yen, British pound, Canadian dollar, Swedish krona and Swiss franc. A reading above 100 indicates a strong position of the dollar, while a reading below 100 reflects weak position of the currency relative to world currencies.

US dollar index falls below 100 for first time since July 2023

US dollar index falls below 100 for first time since July 2023

US dollar index falls below 100 for first time since July 2023

US dollar index falls below 100 for first time since July 2023

Chinese stocks closed higher on Wednesday, with the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index up 2.70 percent to 3,995.00 points.

The Shenzhen Component Index closed 4.79 percent higher at 14,042.50 points.

The combined turnover of the two indices totaled 2.43 trillion yuan (about 353.8 billion U.S. dollars), expanding from 1.61 trillion yuan on the previous trading day.

Precious metals, AI applications, computing hardware and semiconductor chips led the gains, while oil, gas, coal and pharmaceutical retail bucked the trend and fell.

The ChiNext Index, tracking China's Nasdaq-style board of growth enterprises, gained 5.91 percent to close at 3,347.61 points.

The STAR Composite Index, which reflects the performance of stocks on China's sci-tech innovation board, closed 5.64 percent higher at 1,738.35 points.

Chinese shares close higher Wednesday