Lee Hardman, an analyst at Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, said in a report that the US dollar is expected to post its worst annual performance since 2017 and face further weakness next year. He predicts the dollar index will fall 9.3% this year. Both its declines this year and in 2017 coincided with the early stages of President Trump's term. Hardman noted that the dollar recovered some ground in 2018, rising 4.4%, but a similar recovery is unlikely in the coming year. He believes that "as the Federal Reserve further cuts interest rates, and other G10 central banks have ended their easing cycles, the spread between US Treasury bonds and other major economies' government bonds will continue to narrow." (Jinshi)