The problem is that the US currency has been rather friendless in the opening weeks of 2026. One reason is that US interest rates have been heading lower, and are likely to head lower still, in contrast to other big economies. Another is that investors outside the US are looking to do a couple of big things: hold bigger stashes of assets in other currencies over time, in an effort to avoid the effects of US institutional degradation, or hold on to US assets but sell the currency to help deaden the pain. Overseas asset managers can no longer rely on the buck to pop higher when their US shares decline, so they have to take matters into their own hands.