· The dollar was little changed after U.S. President Donald Trump in a speech on Tuesday offered no new details on the state of the administration’s trade war with China.
The dollar index held onto modest gains made earlier on Tuesday, but was last trading at 98.310 against a basket of six currencies, up 0.11% on the day, and a hair above 98.304, its level at noon when Trump’s remarks began.
Speaking at The Economic Club of New York, Trump instead took aim once again at the Federal Reserve, bemoaning the fact that the United States has higher interest rates than other developed economies.
The offshore Chinese yuan was weaker against the dollar at 7.018, down 0.17%. The threshold of 7 yuan per dollar was crossed for the first time in August. The yuan had also weakened earlier Tuesday on political unrest in Hong Kong and after weak economic data in mainland China.
· President Donald Trump used his pulpit before the Economic Club of New York on Tuesday to bash the Federal Reserve, a marked diversion from what many on Wall Street had hoped would be a positive speech on the progress of trade relations between the U.S. and China.
Instead of highlighting warmer relations with Beijing, Trump criticized the Fed for what he sees as its hesitation to lower interest rates and blamed the central bank for capping gains in the U.S. economy and stock market.
The president noted that since his election, the S&P 500 is up more than 45%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average is up over 50% and the Nasdaq Composite is up 60%. But those numbers could be way higher, Trump said, if it weren’t for the reluctance of the Fed.
“And if we had a Federal Reserve that worked with us, you could have added another 25% to each of those numbers, I guarantee you that,” Trump said.
· President Donald Trump renewed his trade attack on China, calling the nation “cheaters” though he blamed the situation on past U.S. leaders.
Trump spoke Tuesday at the Economic Club of New York.
“Since China’s entrance into the World Trade Organization in 2001, no one has manipulated better or taken advantage of the United States more,” Trump said. “I will not say the word ‘cheated,’ but nobody’s cheated better than China, I will say that.”
The remarks break a period of relative peace between the two sides, who have been looking to hammer out the first phase of an agreement that would ease some tariffs.
President Donald Trump on Tuesday dangled the prospect of completing an initial trade deal with China “soon,” but offered no new details on negotiations in a campaign-style speech touting his administration’s economic record.
President Donald Trump on Tuesday said the United States is close to signing a “phase one” trade deal with China, adding in a speech to the Economic Club of New York he will only accept a deal if it is good for his country and U.S. workers.
For weeks Trump has said the countries are close to a deal that would end their damaging trade war. He has also said the signing could take place in a rural part of the United States.
· U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday renewed his criticism of European Union’s trade policies, saying it has “terrible” barriers that are unfair to U.S. producers.
“European Union: very, very difficult,” he told the New York Economic Club. “The barriers they have up are terrible, terrible. In many ways, worse than China.”
· House lawmakers are preparing to conduct the first public hearings in the impeachment inquiry, with three witnesses set to testify Wednesday and Friday.
Democrats added five more hearings to the schedule for next week, featuring eight officials over the course of three days.
A new CBS News poll found Americans hold negative views of how both Democrats and the president have handled the inquiry.
· Eight witnesses are expected to testify next week in the House impeachment inquiry, the panel leading the probe announced Tuesday, as President Trump accused Democrats of relying on “2nd and 3rd hand” testimony on the eve of the first public hearing.
· Minneapolis Federal Reserve Bank President Neel Kashkari on Tuesday said he takes “comfort” from the fact the U.S. yield curve is no longer inverted, a shape that has historically signaled a coming recession.
With business investment weak, but consumer spending and the job market strong, the U.S. economic outlook is “somewhat mixed, but a little bit more optimistic than maybe it was a couple months ago,” Kashkari said in a fireside chat at University of Wisconsin-Madison.
· The chairman of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee said on Tuesday he wanted the Senate to pass legislation to support pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong, as violence rose in the Chinese-ruled city wracked by months of unrest.
Republican Senator Jim Risch noted that he is a co-sponsor and “strong proponent” of the “Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act,” which would place Hong Kong’s special treatment by the United States under tighter scrutiny.
· Police in Hong Kong battled pro-democracy protesters at several university campuses in sometimes savage clashes, as parts of the city were paralyzed including Hong Kong’s Central financial district that was tear-gassed for a second day running.
The flare-ups occurred a day after police shot an unarmed protester at close range and a man was doused with petrol and set on fire in some of the worst violence since the protests began nearly five months ago in the China-ruled city.
· Oil prices steadied after rising about 1% on Tuesday following a speech from U.S. President Donald Trump that offered few new details about Washington’s trade talks with Beijing.
Concerns about slower economic growth and oil demand due to the fallout from the 16-month trade dispute between the world’s two biggest economies pressured oil.
Brent crude futures, the global benchmark, fell 8 cents to settle at $62.10 a barrel. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude shed 8 cents to settle at $56.80 a barrel.
Prices eased from earlier gains after Trump’s remarks to a lunch gathering of The Economic Club of New York included mixed messages about U.S.-China trade talks and excluded specifics about any progress in negotiations.
Reference: CNBC, Reuters, CBS News, Washington Post
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