• The dollar fell across the board on Monday as investor demand for riskier assets rose after China and the U.S. agreed to a cease-fire in a trade dispute that has shaken global markets.
The White House said on Saturday that President Donald Trump told China’s President Xi Jinping at the G20 talks in Argentina that he would not boost tariffs on $200 billion of Chinese goods to 25 percent on Jan. 1 as previously announced.
China and United States will try to bridge their differences via new talks aimed at reaching a deal within 90 days.
“The trade truce is definitely risk positive for the markets...we expect dollar safe haven buying to fade and riskier currencies such as the Aussie and Kiwi dollar to scale higher,” said Rodrigo Catril, senior currency strategist at NAB.
The dollar index, a gauge of its value versus six major peers, traded down 0.13 percent at 97.14.
The dollar lost 0.54 percent versus the offshore yuan, its steepest percentage fall since Oct. 1, to quote at 6.9134.
The safe-haven yen weakened to 113.68 on Monday, with the greenback gaining 0.2 percent, reflecting the prevailing risk-on mood. The euro gained 0.34 percent on the yen to 128.89, briefly hitting an intra-day high of 129.37, its highest level since Nov. 9.
The euro changed hands gained 0.16 percent to $1.1333 amid heavy dollar selling.
• China and the United States agreed to halt additional tariffs in a deal that keeps their trade war from escalating as the two sides try again to bridge their differences with fresh talks aimed at reaching an agreement within 90days.
The White House said on Saturday that President Donald Trump told Chinese President Xi Jinping during high-stakes talks in Argentina that he would not boost tariffs on $200 billion of Chinese goods to 25 percent on Jan. 1 as previously announced.
Beijing for its part agreed to buy an unspecified but “very substantial” amount of agricultural, energy, industrial and other products, the White House said in a statement.
The two sides would also launch new trade talks to address issues including technology transfer, intellectual property, non-tariff barriers, cyber theft and agriculture, it said.
If no deal is reached within 90 days, both parties agreed that the 10 percent tariffs will be raised to 25 percent, the White House said.
• U.S. President Donald Trump said on Saturday he will give formal notice to the U.S. Congress in the near future to terminate the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), giving six months for lawmakers to approve a new trade deal signed on Friday.
Trump, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto signed a new trade agreement on Friday known as the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA).
• Oil prices fell further on Friday as swelling inventories depressed sentiment despite widespread expectations that OPEC and Russia would agree some form of production cut next week.
The two global oil benchmarks, North Sea Brent and U.S. light crude, have had their weakest month for more than 10 years in November, losing more than 20 percent as global supply has outstripped demand.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate was down 52 cents, or 1 percent, at $50.93, after earlier falling as low as $49.65 Brent was down 76 cents, or 1.3 percent, at $58.75 a barrel by 2:28 p.m. ET, having bounced from a session low of $58.25.
Reference: CNBC, Reuters
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