By Ira Iosebashvili 

The dollar fell to its lowest level in nearly a year and a half against the Japanese yen Friday, reflecting investor worries over growing trade tensions between the U.S. and China.

The dollar was recently down 0.5% against the yen to Yen104.73, its lowest level since November 2016.

President Donald Trump said Thursday the U.S. plans to levy tariffs on as much as $60 billion of imports from China and impose restrictions on technology transfers and acquisitions by Beijing. In response, China's Commerce Ministry announced Friday that $3 billion in U.S. goods would be subject to higher tariffs and said it is preparing more actions.

A prolonged trade war could hit growth in the U.S. and derail a nascent global recovery, analysts said. Those concerns tend to benefit the yen, a popular destination during times of political or economic uncertainty.

Political worries also gave the yen a boost after Mr. Trump on Thursday named former Ambassador John Bolton as his new national security adviser. Mr. Bolton, who won't need Senate confirmation to take the job, has been a controversial figure in Washington, D.C., and has pressed the White House to take tougher positions on Iran and North Korea.

Investors are growing concerned that the Trump administration is increasingly relying on advice from policy hawks and that there remain fewer voices of reason with every staffing shake-up at the White House, said Omer Esiner, chief market analyst at Commonwealth Foreign Exchange, in a note to clients.

The WSJ Dollar Index, which measures the U.S. currency against a basket of 16 others, was recently down 0.3% to 83.40.

Write to Ira Iosebashvili at ira.iosebashvili@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

March 23, 2018 18:11 ET (22:11 GMT)

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