• MTS Economic News_20180903

    3 Sep 2018 | Economic News

· The dollar held firm on Monday, benefiting from its status as a safe haven as investors took the impasse in U.S.-Canada trade negotiations as a bad sign for the even trickier talks between the United States and China.

The dollar index against a basket of six currencies .DXY inched a tad higher to 95.163 as of 0325 GMT on Monday, building on gains made during the past two sessions.

The euro EUR= was down about 0.1 percent at $1.1597 as of 0330 GMT, extending its slide of the past two sessions.

The yen JPY= advanced nearly 0.2 percent to 110.915 yen. The Japanese currency, which like the dollar is a perceived safe haven, moved closer to a 1-1/2-week high of 110.685 reached on Friday.

China's offshore yuan CNH=D3 traded in a tight range, weakening somewhat to 6.8478 yuan per dollar.

· “It’s rather hard for the market to have high hopes of the negotiations with China if the talks with Canada, which were thought to be easy, don’t go well,” said Yukio Ishizuki, senior currency strategist at Daiwa Securities.

· “With the Dollar supported by the bullish sentiment towards the U.S. economy and expectations heightened over higher interest rates, the outlook for Gold remains tilted to the downside,” said Lukman Otunuga, research analyst at FXTM.

Justin McQueen, market analyst at DailyFx.com, warned in a report Friday that rising global trade tensions could continue to support the U.S. dollar. In an interview with Bloomberg, President Donald Trump said that he wants to impose an additional $200 billion in tariffs on imported Chinese goods.

Analysts have noted that the U.S. dollar has benefited from recent trade war rhetoric because investors think that strong economic growth will help the U.S. weather any potential economic storm.

· Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda on Monday warned that the growing presence of high-frequency trading (HFT) could exasperate price moves and hurt financial market stability.

HFT players refer to those who use automated algorithms to repeatedly execute small orders at extremely high speed and frequency.

· A private manufacturing survey hit a 14-month low in August as the Caixin/Markit Purchasing Manager's Index (PMI) came in at 50.6 — the weakest since June 2017.

Although output continued to expand, new orders rose at their slowest pace since May 2017, said Caixin and Markit in a joint press release. In particular, export sales fell for the fifth straight month.

Overall confidence was low in August, "with a number of panelists citing concerns over the impact of the ongoing China-U.S. trade war and relatively subdued market conditions," added the release.

· "It looks almost certain that (U.S. President Donald) Trump will impose 25 percent tariffs on $200 billion worth of imports from China," said Norihiro Fujito, chief investment strategist at Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Securities.

Trump said last week he was ready to implement the new tariffs as soon as a public comment period on the plan ends on Thursday, which would be a major escalation given the United States has already applied tariffs on $50 billion of exports from China.

· U.S. and Canadian trade officials set plans to resume their talks on Wednesday with the aim of getting a deal all three nations could sign.

· Manufacturing activity in major Asian economies took a hit from weak export orders in August, a sign firms are starting to feel the pinch from intensifying trade friction between the United States and China that many fear could derail global growth.

Surveys of purchasing managers released on Monday showed persistent pressure on key exporting destinations China, Japan and South Korea.

· Oil prices steadied on Monday, weighed down by rising supply from OPEC and the United States but supported by concerns that falling Iranian output will tighten markets once U.S. sanctions bite from November.

Brent crude oil LCOc1 was up 20 cents at $77.84 a barrel by 0745 GMT. U.S. crude CLc1 was unchanged at $69.80.


Reference: Reuters, CNBC
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