Weighing on global risk sentiment were comments from U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday that seemed to hose down hopes of a trade truce with China.
In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Trump said he expects to move ahead with raising tariffs on $200 billion in Chinese imports to 25 percent from 10 percent currently.
The dollar index, which measures its value against six major peers, held steady at 97.01, trading near its highest level since Nov. 15.
• The yen, also a safe haven currency, changed hands at 113.43, with the greenback losing 0.12 percent versus the Japanese unit on Tuesday.
But analysts expect the yen to weaken against the dollar due to the divergence between the Fed’s and the Bank of Japan’s monetary policies. While the Fed is on a monetary tightening path, the BOJ remains committed to its ultra-loose monetary policy due to low growth and inflation.
• The euro gained marginally versus the greenback to $1.1335 in Asian trade. It briefly hit an intra-day high of $1.1383 on
• China's currency will likely continue its slide against the U.S. dollar — possibly falling below the key 7.00 yuan per dollar level — if Washington and Beijing fail to step back decisively from an all-out trade conflict at this week's G-20 summit in Argentina.
Most global macro and currency strategists contacted by CNBC are not optimistic of a breakthrough at the meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping on Nov. 30 and Dec 1.
• Goldman Sachs said Monday commodities could surge around 17 percent over the coming months, with a fast-approaching G-20 meeting cited as a potential launchpad for raw materials.
• Cyber Monday was on track to bring in a record $7.9 billion in U.S. online sales, as millions of shoppers scoured for steep discounts on everything from Lego sets to big-screen TVs.
• Profit growth at China’s industrial firms cooled for a sixth straight month in October as factory prices and the pace of sales increases softened amid mounting uncertainties stemming from the U.S.-China trade war.
Industrial profits rose 3.6 percent in October from a year earlier to 548 billion yuan ($78.92 billion), a 7-month low and a slowing from September’s 4.1 percent gain, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said on Tuesday.
October’s profit data came out as worries about the U.S.-China war were deepened by Trump’s comments to the Wall Street Journal before his meeting with Xi Jinping in Argentina at the end of this week.
On Monday, Trump told the newspaper it was “highly unlikely” he would accept Beijing’s request to hold off on increasing tariffs on $200 million of Chinese goods to 25 percent from 10 percent, as planned for Jan. 1.
• Oil prices slipped on Tuesday, weighed down by record Saudi Arabian production even as OPEC’s top producer pushes for supply cuts ahead of the group’s meeting in Austria next week.
International Brent crude oil futures LCOc1 briefly dipped below $60 per barrel before rising back to $60.33 at 0746 GMT, down 15 cents, or 0.3 percent, from their last close.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures CLc1 were at $51.24 per barrel, down 39 cents, or 0.8 percent.
Saudi Arabia raised oil production to an all-time high in November, an industry source said on Monday, pumping 11.1 million to 11.3 million barrels per day (bpd) during the month.
• An oil production cut is expected when the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) meets in Vienna next week amid worries over a U.S.-China trade war, a supply glut and demand slowdown, according to Johannes Benigni, chairman and founder of consultancy JBC Energy Group.
"OPEC will probably manage to stabilize the oil market by choosing the right language," Benigni told CNBC's Sri Jegarajah. "They will indicate a cut of between 1 million and 1.5 million, and that will do, the market probably will stabilize."
Reference: Reuters, CNBC
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