London, April 30 (Reuters) - The dollar firmed on Wednesday but is set for its weakest monthly showing since November 2022, as perceived safe havens headed for monthly gains amid worries about U.S. President Donald Trump's trade policies, even as tensions eased somewhat.
The euro was down 0.2% to 1.36250 after dropping 0.33% in the previous session. Even so, it has benefited from investors fleeing U.S. assets and was up 5.3% in April, on course for its best monthly performance since November 2022.
Data releases on Wednesday showed Germany's gross domestic product rose in line with forecasts while France's annual inflation rate was above forecast in April and French GDP was up slightly.
They failed to move the dial, however, with attention firmly on U.S. GDP due later in the session and non-farm payrolls due Friday for a clearer steer on the outlook for the world's largest economy.
The White House has retreated several times on the sweeping tariffs Trump unveiled in early April that led to a global stock market meltdown and prompted investors to flee the normally safe-haven U.S. dollar and Treasury debt.
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"We've reached a level in the U.S. dollar where the market is getting more cautious about further dollar weakness ... until we get further messages ..., it's a little hard to assess," Commerzbank FX analyst Michael Pfister said.
Trump signed a pair of orders on Tuesday to soften the blow of his auto tariffs with a mix of credits and relief from other levies on materials. Trump's trade team also touted its first deal with a foreign trading partner.
European shares ticked higher in morning trade, with the STOXX 600 (.STOXX), up 0.4%, buoyed by a calmer atmosphere around tariffs and a raft of corporate earnings.
"If equities continue to do well - and that's definitely on the back of some de-escalation by Trump on trade tensions - then it looks like the dollar could continue to find some support," said Francesco Pesole, FX strategist at ING.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the administration is making progress on tariff negotiations, and that deals were forthcoming with India and South Korea.
The developments helped defuse some tensions amid investor and company worries about the economic fallout from high tariffs, with indications the import duties will weigh on growth and could drive up inflation and unemployment.
The Swiss franc was last down 0.1% to 0.82465 per dollar but was on course for a rise of 6.9% for the month, its strongest performance in more than a decade.
The yen weakened 0.5% to 143.05 per dollar ahead of the Bank of Japan's policy decision on Thursday in which the central bank is expected to keep interest rates unchanged. The yen has risen almost 4.6% against the dollar in April, its strongest monthly performance since last July.
Investors remain worried about the impact of tariffs after data on Tuesday showed a U.S. economy in gradual decline. Job openings dropped sharply in March, but a fall in layoffs suggested the labour market remained on solid footing.
Attention is now on the advance U.S. GDP estimate for the January-March quarter due later on Wednesday, which will coincide with Trump's 100 days in office.
"The market wants to understand what was the baseline before the tariffs even started," Commerzbank's Pfister said.
A Reuters survey of economists forecast GDP likely rose at a 0.3% annualised rate last quarter, which would be the slowest pace since the second quarter of 2022.
But the survey was concluded before data on Tuesday showed the U.S. goods trade deficit surged to an all-time high in March amid record imports, which prompted economists to sharply downgrade their GDP estimates.
"If it (the GDP print) is negative, then the expectations would obviously be that there will be a recession, because it could be followed by another negative print in the second quarter," said ING's Pesole.
Nevertheless, he said, markets are very forward looking at the moment and more focused on whether trade tensions might be relaxed further.
The Conference Board's U.S. consumer confidence index, though, sank to a nearly five-year low in April. Companies around the world are already showing signs of strain as delivery giant UPS (UPS.N), unveiled 20,000 job cuts while General Motors (GM.N), pulled its outlook.
Also in focus will be the report on U.S. personal consumption expenditure, the Federal Reserve's favourite gauge of inflation, scheduled for release later in the day.
The Australian dollar was 0.2% stronger at $0.6394. Elsewhere, sterling last fetched $1.33615, on course for a 3.8% rise in April, its strongest monthly performance since November 2023.
China's yuan inched lower against the dollar on Wednesday and looked set to post a loss for the month, as early signs of damage on the broader economy from higher U.S. tariffs start to emerge.
Reporting by Ankur Banerjee in Singapore; editing by Lincoln Feast, Kim Coghill, Andrew Heavens and Mark Heinrich
