- U.S., China sign preliminary trade deal
- UK inflation weaker than expected
(Adds U.S., China trade agreement, updates prices)
The dollar pared losses but remained lower against the euro and the yen on Wednesday after the United States and China signed a deal to de-escalate their trade war.
The two countries announced an initial trade deal on Wednesday that will roll back some tariffs and boost Chinese purchases of U.S. goods and services, defusing an 18-month conflict between the world's two largest economies.
But the deal will leave in place 25% tariffs on a vast, $250 billion array of Chinese industrial goods and components used by U.S. manufacturers.
There is "not much of a reaction at all to the trade deal signing," said Shaun Osborne, chief fx strategist at Scotiabank in Toronto.
It may be a mild negative going forward for the greenback, however.
"The dollar has done relatively well out of the uncertainty element that this protracted trade war has caused," Osborne said. "So, at the margin we think it’s a dollar negative."
The euro EUR= was last up 0.22% against the greenback at$1.1151. The dollar dropped 0.05% against the yen JPY= to 109.91, after the Japanese currency on Tuesday hit its weakest level since May at 110.20.
Sterling GBP= edged higher, reversing earlier losses after data showed UK inflation rose at its slowest in three years, feeding expectations the Bank of England would cut rates in January.
“Directionally the market expected some weakness, but probably the magnitude surprised,” said Vassili Serebriakov, an fx strategist at UBS in New York.
The Swiss franc CHF= gained to its strongest against the dollar in over a year, and its highest against the euro EURCHF= in almost three years, after the United States on Monday added Switzerland to its watchlist of currency manipulators.
Analysts said the inclusion could discourage the Swiss National Bank (SNB) from intervening to try to limit further appreciation of the franc, although the Swiss finance ministry said it would have no immediate consequences.
The Russian rouble weakened after the resignation of Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev's government.
======================================================== Currency bid prices at 2:17PM (1917 GMT)Description RIC Last U.S. Close Pct Change YTD Pct High Bid Low Bid Previous Change Session Euro/Dollar EUR= $1.1151 $1.1127 +0.22% -0.53% +1.1163 +1.1119 Dollar/Yen JPY= 109.9100 109.9700 -0.05% +0.96% +110.0100 +109.8000 Euro/Yen EURJPY= 122.55 122.39 +0.13% +0.49% +122.7100 +122.2100 Dollar/Swiss CHF= 0.9635 0.9672 -0.38% -0.44% +0.9680 +0.9631 Sterling/Dollar GBP= 1.3025 1.3017 +0.06% -1.76% +1.3042 +1.2988 Dollar/Canadian CAD= 1.3045 1.3060 -0.11% +0.45% +1.3078 +1.3035 Australian/Doll AUD= 0.6901 0.6900 +0.01% -1.71% +0.6916 +0.6878 arEuro/Swiss EURCHF= 1.0748 1.0765 -0.16% -0.96% +1.0776 +1.0743 Euro/Sterling EURGBP= 0.8558 0.8549 +0.11% +1.23% +0.8578 +0.8538 NZ NZD= 0.6610 0.6613 -0.05% -1.87% +0.6620 +0.6585 Dollar/DollarDollar/Norway NOK= 8.8620 8.8714 -0.11% +0.95% +8.8959 +8.8512 Euro/Norway EURNOK= 9.8825 9.8720 +0.11% +0.45% +9.9010 +9.8733 Dollar/Sweden SEK= 9.4580 9.4632 +0.18% +1.18% +9.4860 +9.4421 Euro/Sweden EURSEK= 10.5493 10.5308 +0.18% +0.77% +10.5648 +10.5310
