Dollar Stabilizes After Sharp Losses; Trump Tax Bill in Focus

The US dollar rose slightly on Thursday, but financial concerns kept the currency under pressure as the passage of President Donald Trump's tax bill approached.

At 11:30 AM Saudi time, the dollar index, which tracks the performance of the US currency against a basket of six other currencies, rose by 0.1% to 99.500, following three consecutive sessions of losses.

Dollar Under Pressure

Trump's tax and spending bill overcame an important procedural hurdle in the House of Representatives on Wednesday when a guardian committee approved the measure, paving the way for a vote in the general session to occur within hours.

The House's passage of the bill will pave the way for weeks of debate in the Republican-led Senate.

The passage of the bill negatively affected the dollar, as the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office estimated that the bill would add $3.8 trillion to the US debt of $36.2 trillion over the next decade.

Moody's downgraded its credit rating for the United States from the highest triple A rating, citing the failure of successive governments to address the country's rising national debt.