· The dollar fell to a fresh two-week low against the Japanese yen on Monday, as worries about escalating trade tensions between the United States and other leading economies hurt risk appetite.
The greenback was down 0.44 percent at 109.48 yen, after slipping to a two-week low of 109.38 earlier in the session.
The dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, was down 0.28 percent at 94.249.
The euro was 0.45 percent higher against the greenback at $1.1708, after hitting a more than one-week high of $1.1713.
· Benchmark U.S. 10-year Treasury notes gained 5/32 in price to yield 2.884 percent, down from 2.900 percent late on Friday. The yield curve between 2-year and 10-year notes flattened to 33 basis points, the lowest level since 2007.
· Conflicting signals from the Trump administration over proposed restrictions on foreign investment in U.S. technology companies, along with news that recently imposed import tariffs are starting to disrupt supply chains, sent global stock markets tumbling on Monday.
Proposed restrictions on foreign investment in U.S. technology would not just be confined to China, according to U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin. The forthcoming restrictions would apply “to all countries that are trying to steal our technology,” he said.
· Peter Navarro, one of President Donald Trump's top trade advisors, said the market was overreacting to fears the administration would restrict foreign investment as part of its trade actions against China and other countries.
Navarro told CNBC that the administration currently does not have any specific countries targeted. His comments came after news reports that had Wall Street reeling over the prospect that the U.S. could prevent companies that had at least 25 percent Chinese ownership from buying businesses that possessed "industrially significant technology."
"There's no plans to impose investment restrictions on any countries that are interfering in any way with our country. This is not the plan," he said.
Navarro's statement seemed to counteract much of the talk that the U.S. was ready to take another step in its trade regime, and his comments brought stocks well off their lows for the day. The Dow Jones Industrial Average still closed down nearly 300 points.
· China told France on Monday it would buy more of its farm produce, hinted at future Airbus purchases and pledged to work on market access, shoring up its trade ties with Europe amid the increasing danger of a tariff war with the United States.
China has struck a very different tone with the United States, having warned that Boeing could become a casualty if the world’s two largest economies fail to halt their slide toward a trade war.
Both China and the European Union are locked in their own trade disputes with the United States, and China has been seeking common ground with the EU in opposing what Beijing sees as U.S. protectionism.
· Europe will hit back if U.S. President Donald Trump follows through with a threat to slap import tariffs on European-made cars, France’s finance minister said on Monday.
· The proposed U.S. tariffs on car imports will have far reaching negative implications for the whole auto industry, according to Moody’s Investors Service.
The research firm said higher tariffs will cause problems across the car industry’s global supply chain.
“Tariffs on imported cars, parts would be broadly credit negative for industry,” Moody’s said in a note to clients Monday. “A 25% tariff on imported vehicles and parts would be negative for nearly every segment of the auto industry — carmakers, parts suppliers, car dealers, and transportation companies … Should any tariffs be levied, carmakers would need to absorb the cost to protect sales volumes while hurting profitability; increase prices to pass the tariff costs to customers, which could hurt sales; or a combination of both.”
· Prime Minister Theresa May told the EU’s Donald Tusk on Monday that Britain would set more details on its vision for a future relationship with the bloc after a June 28-29 summit.
· Oil fell on Monday as investors prepared for an extra 1 million barrels per day (bpd) of oil to hit markets after OPEC agreed to raise production and as U.S. equity markets slipped on trade war fears.
Brent crude futures LCOc1 fell 82 cents, or 1.1 percent, to settle at $74.73 a barrel. U.S. light crude CLc1 settled at $68.08 a barrel, down 50 cents.
Reference: Reuters, CNBC
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