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Dollar ETFs Are Gaining: Here's Why

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The U.S. dollar hovered around a two-month high on Oct. 8, 2025, as fiscal and economic worries spreading over from the Asia-Pacific to Europe weighed on major currencies in the Group of 10, per Bloomberg, as quoted on Yahoo Finance.

The rally was aided by hedge funds increasing bearish bets on the euro and yen, as well as stronger real-money demand for long-dollar positions, according to traders in Asia and Europe, the Bloomberg article noted.

Global Weakness Due to Political Shifts

Invesco DB US Dollar Index Bullish Fund (UUP - Free Report) has lost 3.2% over the past year (as of Oct. 7, 2025) but has gained about 1.7% over the past month. The currency is up over 1.2% over the past week (as of Oct. 7, 2025). WisdomTree Bloomberg US Dollar Bullish Fund (USDU - Free Report) has added 1.2% gains over the past month.

While the ongoing U.S. government shutdown could be a dampener, the fall in the yen due to the potential political shift in Japan and the decline in the euro due to the recent resignation of the French Prime Minister helped the U.S. dollar remain steady against key international currencies.

Meanwhile, the greenback got an extra advantage as the New Zealand dollar slid to a six-month low after the Reserve Bank of New Zealand delivered a larger-than-expected rate cut and signaled scope for further easing, as quoted on the above-mentioned Bloomberg article.

U.S. Economy in Decent Shape?

Although the U.S. economy shrank at an annualized rate of 0.5% in Q1 2025, the economy expanded an annualized 3.8% in Q2 2025, marking the strongest performance since Q3 2023, per tradingeconomics.

The economy is expected to grow by 0.6% in Q3 and 0.7% in Q4 of 2025. The growth is likely to pick up in 2026 with four quarters projected to grow at a rate of 1.3%, 1.6%, 1.5% and 1.4%, respectively, per Conference Board data.

The Fed also enacted its first rate cut of this year in September, with some more cuts in the offing to support the labor market. This move should lead to expansion in the economy.

Easing Trade Tensions

The U.S. dollar suffered a lot in April 2025 due to Trump-led trade tensions. However, much of the tension has eased thanks to a flurry of deals signed with several countries, and the U.S. dollar has remained steady since then. 

One-year risk reversals — which track demand for bullish versus bearish bets — indicate that traders have been the most optimistic on the greenback since April, per the above-mentioned Bloomberg article.

What Lies Ahead?

The U.S. government shutdown still poses a downside risk. In the three most recent shutdowns — 2013, early 2018, and late 2018 into 2019 — the Bloomberg dollar index weakened during and shortly after the impasse, Bloomberg mentioned.

The looming Fed rate cuts, still-present inflation worries in the U.S. economy and President Trump’s inclination for a weaker dollar are not great news for the U.S. dollar bulls.


 


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