Hopes rise for US-China trade truce before a G20 summit this weekend, although investor sentiment remained fragile.
The two countries have agreed to a tentative truce in their trade dispute ahead of U.S. and Chinese President Xi Jinping’s meeting on Saturday. On Wednesday, U.S. President Donald Trump said a trade deal with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping was possible this weekend, though he was prepared to impose tariffs on virtually all remaining Chinese imports if talks fail.
Investors are waiting to see whether U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping will at least call a truce in their trade war. Attention is focused on a meeting between the leaders of the United States and China, embroiled in a lengthy trade war. Concerns over trade, conflict and oil will dominate the G20 summit.
The United States should immediately remove sanctions on Chinese telecoms equipment maker Huawei, a commerce ministry spokesman said on Thursday. Chinese officials said that Beijing was insisting on the removal of a ban on the sale of U.S. technology to Huawei as part of any rapprochement. Trump has suggested that Huawei could be part of a deal.
START TRADINGForex – Hopes rise for US-China trade truce
Risky assets including the pound were generally in demand with perceived safe-haven currencies such as the Japanese yen and the Swiss franc lower.
The dollar held on to gains made in its recovery from recent lows on Thursday on hopes for US-China trade truce. That supported buying of the dollar, which had weakened in recent weeks on expectations the Federal Reserve would cut interest rates.
A dollar index rose 0.1% against a basket of currencies to 96.351 before steadying at 96.222. The dollar rose to as high as $1.1347 earlier but was flat on the day at $1.1367 EUR by 1030 GMT.
The yen, which had jumped to five-month highs earlier this week, fell to 108.16. Later the Japanese currency stabilized around 107.87.
The Swiss franc was unchanged at 1.1117 francs per euro.
The sterling rose 0.2% to $1.2714 after Boris Johnson said that the chance of a no-deal Brexit was “a million-to-one”. Against the euro, the pound was broadly steady at 89.48 pence.
Gold prices fell on Thursday as hopes of a truce in the U.S.-China trade spat ahead of a weekend meeting at the G20 summit rekindled investors’ interest in riskier assets, weighing on safe-haven bullion. Spot gold was down 0.3% at $1,404.85 per ounce, after shedding more than 1% in the previous session.
PLEASE NOTE The information above is not investment advice.
Sources: Reuters, Investing, CNN money