· The dollar trod water early on Friday as investors awaited a crucial meeting between the leaders of the United States and China at a Group of 20 summit over the weekend for any signs of progress to end their heated trade war.
The mood improved the previous day after the South China Morning Post said Washington and Beijing were laying out an agreement that would help avert the next round of tariffs on an additional $300 billion of Chinese imports.
Trump is set to hold the much-anticipated trade talks with Xi at 11:30 a.m. (0230 GMT) on Saturday.
· The dollar traded at 107.66 yen JPY=, little changed on the day but on course for a 0.3% gain this week as the greenback mounted a recovery from a five-month low of 106.77 yen reached on Tuesday.
· The dollar index .DXY, which measures the U.S. currency against six of its peers, was at 96.217, unchanged on the week.
· The euro EUR= last traded at $1.1364, unchanged on the week. However, analysts say sentiment on the single currency remains weak due to speculation the European Central Bank will ease monetary policy.
Focus on First day of G20
· Many Group of 20 leaders voiced concern over trade tensions and the risk they pose on the global economy at their meeting in Osaka, western Japan, on Friday, a senior Japanese government official said.
· U.S. President Donald Trump made clear on Friday that trade was his top priority at a summit of leaders of Group of 20 nations, as China’s Xi Jinping warned against rising protectionism and India, Japan and Russia defended multilateral trade rules.
“I think we’re going to have some very big things to announce. Very big trade deal. We’re doing some very big things with India in terms of trade, in terms of manufacturing,” Trump said at the start of talks with the Indian prime minister.
Trump, set to hold a high-profile meeting on trade with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Saturday, also made a push to discuss U.S. concerns about Chinese telecoms equipment maker Huawei [HWT.UL] at his meetings.
· U.S. President Donald Trump said he expected a productive meeting with China’s President Xi Jinping on Saturday, highly anticipated talks on the sidelines of the G20 Summit amid the U.S.-Chinese trade tensions.
“I think it will be productive,” Trump told reporters on Friday. “Who knows, but I think it will be productive. At a minimum it will be productive. We’ll see what happens and what comes out of it.”
But asked if he had promised Xi a six month reprieve from tariffs, Trump said: “No.”
· Russian President Vladimir Putin believes the dominant western ideology since the end of World War II has “become obsolete.”
In an interview with the Financial Times published Friday, the Russian president said liberalism has now come “into conflict” with what people around the world want.
Liberals “cannot simply dictate anything to anyone just like they have been attempting to do over the recent decades,” Putin said, as world leaders gathered in Osaka, Japan for a two-day G-20 summit.
Putin criticized German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s decision to admit more than 1 million refugees to Germany in 2015, predominantly from war-torn Syria, as a “cardinal mistake.”
But, the de-facto leader of Russia for almost two decades praised President Donald Trump for trying to stop the flow of migrants and drugs from Mexico.
“The liberal idea presupposes that nothing needs to be done. That migrants can kill, plunder and rape with impunity because their rights as migrants have to be protected,” Putin told the newspaper.
“Every crime must have its punishment. The liberal idea has become obsolete. It has come into conflict with the interests of the overwhelming majority of the population.”
· Donald Tusk, the president of the European Council which comprises the heads of state from EU nations, flatly rejected Putin’s argument. He told reporters he “strongly” disagreed with the Russian president.
“Whoever claims that liberal democracy is obsolete also claims that freedoms are obsolete, that the rule of law is obsolete and that human rights are obsolete,” Tusk said Friday, before adding that these were “essential and vibrant values” for Europeans
· German Chancellor Angela Merkel said her summit meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday would cover a wide range of topics including trade, investments, West Africa, counter-terrorism and Iran.
Speaking to reporters ahead of the bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the Group of 20 (G20) leaders’ meeting in Osaka, western Japan, Trump called Merkel a “great friend of mine” and praised trade between the two countries.
· Trade between Germany and Iran has collapsed under the impact of United States sanctions, data published by Funke newspapers showed, supporting Iran’s assertion that Europe is failing to help preserve the nuclear non-proliferation deal it signed.
Data from the German Chamber of Commerce showed that trade volumes between Iran and Europe’s largest economy were down 49% over the first four months of the year compared to the same period in 2018, with volumes continually declining.
· Iran is on course to breach a threshold in its nuclear agreement within days by accumulating more enriched uranium than permitted, although it had not done so yet by a deadline it set for Thursday, diplomats said, citing U.N. inspectors’ data.
· Iran said Friday’s meeting in Vienna between the remaining signatories of the nuclear deal was the “last chance” to save the accord after the U.S. withdrawal last year and warned Tehran would not accept “artificial” solutions to U.S. sanctions.
· Oil prices eased on Friday as traders awaited any update on the Sino-U.S. trade war from a scheduled weekend meeting of the two countries’ presidents at the G20, and eyed next week’s OPEC gathering.
Brent crude LCOc1 futures were down 35 cents, or 0.5%, at $66.20 per barrel by 0644 GMT.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude CLc1 futures were down 30 cents, or 0.5%, at $59.13 a barrel.
The leaders of the G20 countries meet on Friday and Saturday in Osaka, Japan, but the most anticipated meeting is between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping on Saturday.
A trade dispute between the world’s two biggest economies has weighed on oil prices, fanning fears that slowing
“Even if U.S.-China trade talks turn positive, we think OPEC will extend the current production cuts until the end of the year. However, deeper cuts look unlikely, given the rising supply issues,” ANZ said.
Reference: CNBC, Reuters, FX Street
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