Yahoo Finance U.S. Dollar Falls; Brexit, Sino-U.S. Trade Development in Spotlight
Investing.com - The U.S. dollar fell on Friday in Asia as traders digested the latest news on Brexit and Sino-U.S. trade development.
The U.S. dollar index that tracks the greenback against a basket of other currencies was down 0.2% to 95.803 by 12:45 AM ET (04:45 GMT).
High-level officials including U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Chinese Vice Premier Liu He are due to meet in Beijing for a fresh round of talks next week.
Citing people familiar with the matter, Bloomberg reported that U.S. officials are not targeting a “swift trade deal.” Instead, the goal is to reach an agreement during a meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping at Mar-a-Lago sometime before the end of April, according to the people.
It was reported earlier in the week that some U.S. negotiators are concerned that Beijing is pushing back against some American demands in trade talks.
Chinese officials are not happy with the lack of assurance from the Trump administration that tariffs on their goods would be lifted, even after agreeing to changes to their intellectual-property policies last month.
The USD/CNY pair was up 0.1% to 6.7038. The People’s Bank of China sets the central rate at 6.6944 vs. yesterday at 6.6850.
Meanwhile, the GBP/USD pair rose 0.2% to 1.3136 after the European Union delayed the Brexit date by two weeks if U.K. parliament does not endorse U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May’s withdrawal deal next week.
If May manages to win the backing of British lawmakers, who have previously rejected her deal twice, the EU will allow the U.K. to remain in the bloc until May 22.
"What the decision today underlines is the importance of the House of Commons passing a Brexit deal next week so that we can bring an end to the uncertainty and leave in a smooth and orderly manner," May said at a press briefing around midnight. "Tomorrow morning, I will be returning to the U.K. and working hard to build support for getting the deal through."
The AUD/USD pair slipped 0.1% to 0.7105.
The USD/JPY pair traded near flat at 110.77.
Related Articles
Forex - Kiwi Slumps as RBNZ Says Next Move in Rates is Likely to be A Cut
Dollar edges up, kiwi slides as RBNZ flags possible rate cut
