· The dollar dropped on Friday after a disappointing jobs number signaled a weakening labor market.
The economy added 75,000 jobs in May. Economists polled by Dow Jones were expecting 180,000 jobs in May.
The dollar index fell 0.47% to $96.59.
The dollar was headed on Friday for its worst week since December. The prospects of the Fed’s reacting to an escalating China-U.S. trade row by cutting rates has dragged the dollar to a two-month low this week and helped the euro rise above $1.13.
On Friday, however, the euro relinquished all its gains from Thursday after a policy review by the European Central Bank that was less dovish than expected.
The ECB on Thursday ruled out raising rates in the next year and even opened the door to buying more bonds as a global trade war and Brexit drag the euro zone economy down.
The euro was down 0.55% to $1.1337 but still set for a weekly gain of 0.9%, its best weekly performance against the dollar since late September last year, when it rose nearly 1.1%.
The Mexican peso rose when President Donald Trump said on Friday that Mexico may be able to avert tariffs on its goods by purchasing American agricultural products.
President Trump tweeted the news. The Mexican currency was up 0.46% at $19.60.
· There’s still a chance that the U.S. and China could reach a trade deal by the end of this year, but that won’t be enough to cause investors to cheer, according to an investment expert from BlackRock.
Isabelle Mateos y Lago, deputy head of BlackRock’s Official Institutions Group, said Friday that any trade deal between Washington and Beijing will likely be “narrow.” That means the deal won’t likely resolve all the tensions between the two countries, she explained.
U.S. President Donald Trump will make a decision about whether to slap China with more tariffs after meeting with his Chinese counterpart later this month in Japan.
That’s according to U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, who told CNBC on Sunday that the American leader will be trying to determine if Chinese President Xi Jinping is willing to head “in the right direction” on a deal to reshape the trade and commercial relationships between the world’s top two economies.
· The White House has had no problem leveraging American economic heft to bring other countries to heel on issues that aren’t related to the economy — and it may continue to do so, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin indicated to CNBC on Sunday.
Asked if trade could again be used as a weapon in non-trade disputes, Mnuchin said, “I think it’s very important that we have all these tools, that we use them. And President Trump has really done a great job at using these tools.”
· The White House acting budget chief wants to delay the implementation of restrictions imposed by the U.S. on China’s Huawei, The Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday.
Russell Vought, acting director of the Office of Management and Budget, made the request in a letter to Vice President Mike Pence and members of Congress, according to the Journal.
· Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Sunday that Washington is “very excited” about an agreement with Mexico to help stem the flow of immigrants attempting to enter the U.S., but he warned that the White House could renew its threats of punitive tariffs if it found itself unsatisfied.
· Canadian Finance Minister Bill Morneau said his country has hit “an impasse” in its relationship with China following the last few months of diplomatic tension.
Relations between the two countries turned rocky after Canadian authorities in December arrested Meng Wanzhou, Huawei’s chief financial officer. The U.S. charged Meng with fraud linked to alleged violations of Iran sanctions. China, in what’s widely seen as a politically retaliatory move, subsequently detained several Canadians and blocked shipments of canola from a major Canadian company.
· Analysts and investors have raised the probability of a no-deal Brexit since Prime Minister Theresa May announced last month that she would step down. May officially resigned as leader of the Conservative Party on Friday, but remains prime minister until her party elects a new chief.
Exiting the EU without a negotiated deal would mean the U.K. abruptly ceasing to be a member of the bloc once the deadline to exit is over. Among other things, such a situation would result in Britain carrying out trade with the EU according to rules by the World Trade Organization — which apply higher tariffs on products an array of products including such things as automobiles and dairy products.
Such a situation would continue until both sides reached an agreement to define their new relationship.
· Oil prices rose on Friday, climbing further from five-month lows hit this week, after Saudi Arabia said OPEC was close to agreeing to extend an output production cut beyond June.
Brent crude futures rose 2.7% to $63.33 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures rose 2.7% to $53.99 a barrel.
Both benchmarks were on track for a third weekly decline. On Wednesday they hit their lowest since January.
Saudi Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih told a conference in Russia that the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies should extend oil production cuts.
Reference: CNBC
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