The pound fell against the dollar and euro on Friday after the UK Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) fell to a four-month low, but was still set to end the week up, after a new phase of intense Brexit talks restarted. The pound gave up some recent gains after an early flash PMI reading – a gauge of private sector growth – fell to a four month low of 52.9 in October from 56.5 in September. Britain’s economic recovery from the COVID-19 shock was already beginning to falter in August. Since ...

The dollar was stable against most currencies on Friday after a measured U.S. presidential debate, but it was headed for weekly losses as investors waited for a breakthrough in stimulus talks in Washington and post-Brexit trade negotiations. U.S. President Donald Trump adopted a more restrained tone than in the first debate, though exchanges again focused on the handling of the COVID-19 pandemic and personal slights. The dollar was 0.03% lower against a basket of currencies in early trades in Europe, just clear of a seven-week low hit on Wednesday. It ...

The dollar index ticked higher on Thursday, easing off a seven-week low as hopes for a coronavirus aid package ahead of the U.S. elections faded and COVID-19 cases surged around the world, giving a slight bid to safe-haven assets like the greenback. Investors were also digesting new U.S. jobless claims data that showed a bigger-than-expected drop, but remained at extremely high levels amid fading fiscal stimulus and a resurgent coronavirus. U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi said on Thursday negotiations toward a new relief bill were making progress and ...

The dollar was steady above seven-week lows on Thursday, gaining some respite as hopes of a fiscal package in the United States ahead of the November elections crumbled once again. Progress towards a U.S. stimulus deal has boosted sentiment in world markets and lifted demand for riskier assets in recent sessions – weighing on the safe-haven dollar, which tends to weaken when risk appetite picks up. But pressure on the currency eased after U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday accused Democrats of being unwilling to craft an acceptable compromise. In ...

The dollar hit a seven-week low against a basket of currencies on Wednesday after U.S. President Donald Trump and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi boosted hopes for a large fiscal stimulus package, prompting some traders to ramp up bets on riskier currencies. The U.S. dollar index =USD was 0.47% lower at 92.605, its lowest since Sept. 2. “We’ve entered a secular bear market for the dollar,” said Axel Merk, president and portfolio manager at Merk Hard Currency Fund in Palo Alto, California. The weakness in the greenback came as the White ...

A win for Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden in the U.S. election next month could prove to be bullish for the Chinese yuan, analysts said. A “balanced outlook” for the election “should reduce the risk premium” for the Chinese currency, analysts at Swiss bank Lombard Odier wrote in a report on Tuesday. “We assume a Biden win that reduces some trading uncertainty,” they said. “Biden’s presidency could lead to a more rational approach to bilateral trade — even if his team could prove as hawkish on China as Trump’s on ...

The dollar fell to a one-month low on Wednesday after U.S. President Donald Trump boosted hopes for a large fiscal stimulus package, prompting a wave of market optimism that saw traders ramp up their bets on riskier currencies. Lawmakers in Washington have been negotiating intermittently since August, with Democrats arguing for a bigger package to help manage the economic fallout from coronavirus. Trump raised hopes for a breakthrough on Tuesday by saying he was willing to accept a large aid bill, despite opposition from his own Republican party. The comments ...

The euro struggled to rise above the $1.18 level on Tuesday as fading hopes for a U.S. coronavirus aid package dealt a blow to risky assets worldwide, with rising coronavirus infections in Europe also weighing on the single currency. While markets remain hopeful talks between U.S. House Speaker Pelosi and Treasury Secretary Mnuchin will result in a deal before the Nov 3 presidential election, any agreement will have to pass the Republican-controlled Senate where opposition to a bigger stimulus bill remains stubborn. Those concerns pushed the euro EUR=EBS lower in ...

China’s experimental $1.5 million (1.16 million pounds) giveaway of digital yuan to Shenzhen citizens ended on Sunday with acclaim from currency analysts – and scepticism from some users saying they preferred existing shopping tools like the ubiquitous Alipay app. Under the week-long programme, the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) gave 200 yuan ($29.75) to each of 50,000 consumers selected in a lottery in digital “red envelopes”, echoing the country’s traditional way of gifting cash. The online wallet was accessible via an app, without need for an existing bank account, with ...

Asia’s trade-exposed currencies held firm on Monday as data showed China’s economic rebound from the pandemic accelerated in the third quarter, with the yuan staying close to its recent 1-1/2-year high. China’s gross domestic product grew 4.9% in July-September from a year earlier, slower than analysts’ forecast but faster than the second quarter and helped by strong gains in industrial output and an acceleration in retail sales. The yuan and the Australian and New Zealand dollars slipped from session highs after the Chinese GDP headline miss, but then rebounded on ...

In recent years the Chinese government has made a concerted effort to internationalize the yuan and challenge the US dollar for monetary supremacy. It has taken multiple steps to increase its use as a central bank reserve currency and further its adoption in international trade. Most notably, it will likely become the first major country to introduce a sovereign digital currency, which is being billed as a technologically-superior form of money. Through these actions, and Beijing’s openness in stating its intentions to unseat the dollar, it has become popular to ...

The dollar paused on Friday but remained on track for its biggest weekly gain in a month amid growing market caution over a global surge in coronavirus cases and fading prospects of a U.S. stimulus package before the Nov. 3 election. Fresh curbs to combat COVID-19 have been introduced across Europe while the U.S. Midwest is also battling record spikes in new cases as data shows the country’s economic recovery is losing steam. Investors will get a further indicator of the health of the U.S. economy with retail sales data ...

The Australian dollar dropped to a one-week low after the head of the central bank hinted of a possible rate cut or bond purchases. Overall, a risk-off environment kept the U.S. dollar supported and other major currencies on the defensive, apart from the British pound. Sterling held on to the gains it made the day before on signs of progress in Brexit talks. The Reserve Bank of Australia is assessing whether buying longer-dated bonds would help the economy and considering an interest rate cut, Governor Philip Lowe said in a ...

The performance gap between emerging market currencies and their developed peers has blown out to its widest level in more than a decade as falling interest rates, an uncertain economic outlook and sizeable outflows curb investor appetite. A group of 10 major emerging currencies – including the Chinese yuan, the Brazilian real and the Turkish lira – have underperformed developed market currencies by nearly 14% this year, according to Nordea Research. That is in stark contrast to the aftermath of the 2008/09 global financial crisis when the same basket of ...

The dollar index extended its gains on Wednesday and demand for riskier currencies was subdued, as investors became more cautious over rising COVID-19 cases, vaccine trials being paused and U.S. fiscal stimulus talks hitting a new impasse. The rally in global equities started to run out of steam on Tuesday and investors’ risk appetite suffered, with the dollar index seeing its biggest daily jump in three weeks and euro-dollar sliding to a six-day low. Johnson & JNJ.N said on Tuesday it was pausing a clinical trial of a coronavirus vaccine ...