The dollar was last up 0.05%, but remains down 2.05% this month. It hovered at $1.115 per euro but managed to claw up to 108.58 against the safe-haven Japanese yen . The yen has been weak too, having hit a 2-1/2-month low last week.
Against the dollar, sterling was last down 0.02% to $1.297 having earlier broken above $1.30 for the first time in 5-1/2 months. The euro was 0.21% lower against the dollar, having also been lifted by Brexit optimism this month by 2.26%.
The Canadian dollar was last 0.31% stronger against the U.S. dollar as Canadians voted on Monday to determine whether Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who swept into office four years ago as a charismatic figure promising “sunny ways,” will remain in power after two major scandals. His Liberals and the main opposition Conservatives led by Andrew Scheer are in a neck-and-neck race, according to opinion polls.
· U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson has been prevented from holding a key vote on the Brexit withdrawal deal he recently agreed with Brussels.
The U.K. government was keen to have a “meaningful vote” on Monday, but this was rejected by House Speaker John Bercow as it’s not parliamentary convention to repeatedly ask the same questions to politicians.
The speaker added that the government would still have time to achieve Brexit by October 31.
· Prime Minister Boris Johnson appealed to lawmakers on Monday to approve his Brexit bill this week, saying neither he, the European Union or the public wanted any more delays to Britain’s departure from the bloc.
With just over a week before Britain is due to leave the EU, Johnson is scrambling to get his deal through parliament, which has put up a series of hurdles for the prime minister to meet his Oct. 31 deadline to try to prevent a no-deal Brexit.
After the parliamentary speaker ruled out a straight ‘yes or no’ vote on the deal itself on Monday, Johnson is now looking to pass the legislation implementing the agreement through parliament as quickly as possible.
· The leaders of the other 27 EU nations are expected to take their time deciding whether to prolong the current Brexit deadline, as U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson fights to put his new deal to a vote in Westminster.
According to the U.K.’s Sunday Times newspaper, which cited diplomatic sources, the EU is likely to accept the length requested by Johnson — until the end of January 2020 — if it does agree to prolonging the date.
· China is seeking $2.4 billion in retaliatory sanctions against the United States for failing to comply with a World Trade Organization ruling in a case that highlights White House complaints about the global trade body.
The WTO’s Dispute Settlement Body (DSB) will review the case which dates back to the Obama-era on Oct. 28, a document published on Monday showed.
WTO appeals judges said in July the United States did not fully comply with a trade body ruling about tariffs it put on Chinese solar panels, wind towers, and steel cylinders. They said Beijing could impose retaliatory sanctions if Washington did not remove them.
· The Bank of England should be given more power to steer lending in Britain’s economy and influence government spending during a downturn, a think tank said on Monday.
Positive Money, a think tank whose work has been endorsed by the opposition Labour Party and others in recent years, said closer coordination was needed between the BoE and the government, with the efficacy of quantitative-easing in doubt.
Positive Money said the BoE and government should create a new credit policy unit so the BoE can influence lending, and the central bank should also be able to outline its expectations for the government’s fiscal policy.
· U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday said he did not want to leave any American troops in Syria, but that U.S. forces leaving the country now would deploy elsewhere before eventually returning to the United States.
Trump, speaking at a meeting of his Cabinet at the White House, also said it appeared a five-day pause negotiated last week in the Turkish offensive against U.S.-allied Kurdish-led fighters in northern Syria was holding despite some skirmishes, and that it could possibly go beyond Tuesday’s expiration.
· Benjamin Netanyahu gave up his effort to form a new government on Monday after failing to secure a majority coalition, creating an opportunity for centrist rival Benny Gantz to replace Israel’s longest serving prime minister.
Netanyahu, who heads the right-wing Likud party, said he had been unable to form a government following an election in September, and was returning the mandate back to Israel’s president, Reuven Rivlin. Rivlin said he intends to task Gantz with the job of putting together a new government.
· Thousands of Chileans poured into Santiago’s central squares Monday to protest high living costs after a weekend of looting, arson and clashes with security forces killed 11 people and prompted President Sebastian Pinera to declare the country “at war” with vandals.
Brent crude LCOc1 futures fell 46 cents, or 0.8%, to settle at $58.96 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude CLc1 futures fell 47 cents, or 0.9%, to settle at $53.31 a barrel.
Although President Donald Trump has said he would like to sign a deal when he meets his Chinese counterpart at November’s APEC summit, the U.S. commerce secretary said an initial trade deal does not need to be finalized next month.
U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer told reporters that the administration’s target is still to finish phase one by the time the APEC meetings take place in Chile on Nov. 16 and 17. He added there are outstanding issues to resolve.
Reference: Reuters, CNBC
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