Trade Talks: Contradictory Reports Weigh on Currencies

In the last few weeks, the trade talks between the US and China had been major headlines of the news report. The trade talks between the two giant economies have been mystique with a lot of speculations. Investors have held hopes in previous times about it being resolved quickly when both countries came out to say they were considering a rollback of the tariffs placed on their respective goods, during this period, the dollar and other riskier assets took the upper hand.

Hopes were squashed in a way when contradictory reports came in that the trade talks between the two countries had reached a stalemate. Investors decided to hold steady their decisions being unsure of the next moves and when the preliminary pact will be signed.

A top banker cum FX pro, reiterated the fact that investors and traders alike are already wearied by the contradictory reports which came in and have given up on placing bets in an unsure direction. Top officials from both countries have expressed optimism in the trade dispute been resolved but this seemed not enough as the sentiments had already weighed on the currencies.

Impact on the Currencies
Most of the currencies held steady while the dollar fell in respect to the Euro.

US dollar waned against the euro to trade at $1.1061 while it held steady in other currency pairs at 97.958. The dollar had been shaking by the mixed reports coming in from the trade talks. The new bills passed by the US senate over Hong Kong had sparked up concerns while speculations are high for the talks to be pushed into the year 2020.

USD/ Japanese yen held steady at 108.63 yen per dollar, unchanging the week’s start.

Chinese Yuan, which has been highly impacted by news on the trade talks held steady at 7.0313 versus the US dollar.

The pound stood steady at $1.2914, being marginally weaker against the dollar at $1.30. The pound was undermined by the uncertainty hovering above the oncoming December 12 election.

Later on today, manufacturing figures from 4 major economies which are Britain, the United States, Germany, and the Eurozone are due out. This is believed to give further direction to the currency market. Also to be out later in the day is the flash purchasing managers’ index roll.