· The dollar remained near one-month lows against the euro on Tuesday, but gained against the yen after a U.S.-Mexico deal aimed at overhauling the North American Free Trade Agreement boosted appetite for riskier assets.
Against a basket of its rivals, the dollar hit its lowest level since Aug. 2 at 94.68 in early Asian trades before consolidating its losses.
Despite the dollar’s struggles against its major rivals, the euro was broadly steady around $1.1685 after Italy’s Deputy Prime Minister Luigi Di Maio told an Italian paper the country’s public deficit could exceed the European Union’s ceiling of 3 percent of gross domestic product.
· The U.S. and China will continue their standoff in the ongoing trade war as there is just not "enough pain" yet for either side to back off, an expert said on Monday.
"I think we are in for a prolonged period of continuing escalating tensions," said Deborah Elms, the executive director at the Asian Trade Centre, which is based in Singapore.
One problem is that "both sides think they have the upper hand in this debate," Elms told CNBC's "Capital Connection."
She said the situation is likely to worsen in the months ahead through the U.S. midterm elections.
Market watchers are now keeping their eyes on another round of U.S. tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods expected later this year.
· The United States is currently at a weaker position with North Korea than before U.S. President Donald Trump met with the leader of the rogue nation, an expert told CNBC on Monday.
"We are worse off than where we were when the summit happened because, in the meantime, China and Russia have alleviated sanctions pressure on North Korea. We've also unilaterally canceled our military exercises with South Korea with our own president even labeling these exercises provocative which certainly unnerved Japan," said Sean King, senior vice president at public policy and business development firm Park Strategies.
· U.S. President Donald Trump called off a visit to North Korea by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo after the latter received a belligerent letter from a senior North Korean official just hours after the trip was announced last week, the Washington Post reported on Monday.
The Post quoted two unnamed senior U.S. administration officials as saying the letter came on Friday from Kim Yong Chol, vice chairman of North Korea’s ruling Workers’ Party Central Committee, who led previous rounds of talks with Pompeo.
· The trade deal with Mexico offers U.S. President Donald Trump "some wins from a political perspective that the administration can point to ahead of the mid-terms," said John Woods, the chief investment officer for Asia Pacific at Credit Suisse.
That could mean the country's ongoing dispute with China may drag on, Woods said.
· German Chancellor Angela Merkel and U.S. President Donald Trump shared concerns about developments in Syria, especially the humanitarian situation in the region around Idlib, their offices said on Monday after the leaders spoke by telephone.
The government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, backed by Moscow, says it aims to recapture the rebel-held enclave of Idlib in northern Syria, a refuge for civilians and rebels displaced from other areas of Syria, as well as jihadist forces.
· Oil prices dipped on Tuesday, weighed down by gradually rising output from producer club OPEC but supported by supply risks from places such as Venezuela, Africa and Iran.
International Brent crude oil futures LCOc1 were at $76.14 per barrel at 0625 GMT, down 7 cents from their last close.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures CLc1 were down 11 cents at $68.76 per barrel.
Reference: Reuters, CNBC
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