- Trump says to hold summit with China to sign trade deal
- Chinese yuan, Aussie, NZ dollar gain in 'risk-on' momentum
- Graphic: World FX rates in 2019 http://tmsnrt.rs/2egbfVh
(Recasts, adds comment, FX table, changes dateline; previous LONDON)
The safe-haven dollar and yen slipped on Monday as risk appetite increased after U.S. President Donald Trump said he would delay a planned hike in tariffs on Chinese imports, suggesting trade negotiations between the two countries have made significant progress.
The U.S. deadline set earlier for imposing higher tariffs on Chinese goods was March 1.
Global equity markets rose on the news, along with currencies that do well in risk-tolerant environments, such as the Australian and New Zealand dollars.
Trump said on Monday he would hold a summit with China to sign any final trade deal and would meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.
Mazen Issa, senior FX strategist at TD Securities in New York, said the "stand down" posture on the trade talks suggested that a "more substantive deal may be in the works that could address structural issues related to intellectual property theft and forced technology transfers."
That has boosted risk sentiment, Issa said, and weighed on safe-haven currencies such as the dollar and yen.
In mid-morning trading, the dollar index, which measures the currency's value against a basket of six currencies, fell 0.1 percent to 96.431 .DXY as investors bought currencies considered riskier.
The yen was also weaker, pushing the dollar up 0.1 percent at 110.82 yen JPY= .
China's yuan, meanwhile, touched a seven-month high while Chinese equities surged as investors and European shares also performed well.
The offshore yuan rose as high as 6.6737 per dollar to touch its strongest since mid-July and was up 0.3 percent at 6.68 CNH= .
China's yuan has strengthened 2.7 percent against the dollar in 2019, reversing some of last year's 5.5 percent loss.
The Australian dollar, seen as a proxy for China risk because of Australia's dependence on Chinese demand for its exports, rose 0.7 percent to US$0.7176 AUD= . The New Zealand dollar gained 0.6 percent to US$0.6894 NZD= .
The euro EUR= also gained against a weaker dollar, adding 0.1 percent to $1.1353, keeping it within recent trading ranges.
"You couldn't get a more 'risk on' ranking of G10 currencies than we have this morning," said Kit Juckes, Societe Generale's foreign exchange analyst, citing gains for the Australian and New Zealand dollars and the Swedish SEK= and Norwegian crowns NOK= .
Sterling held below $1.31 GBP=D3 , up 0.1 percent, as traders considered whether the British government might delay Brexit should Prime Minister Theresa May fail to secure support for her withdrawal agreement.
======================================================== Currency bid prices at 10:12AM (1512 GMT)Description RIC Last U.S. Close Pct Change YTD Pct High Bid Low Bid Previous Change Session Euro/Dollar EUR= $1.1354 $1.1341 +0.11% -1.00% +1.1368 +1.1325 Dollar/Yen JPY= 110.8100 110.6800 +0.12% +0.50% +110.8500 +110.5900 Euro/Yen EURJPY= 125.83 125.40 +0.34% -0.31% +125.8900 +125.3900 Dollar/Swiss CHF= 1.0003 1.0001 +0.02% +1.93% +1.0009 +0.9984 Sterling/Dollar GBP= 1.3069 1.3052 +0.13% +2.45% +1.3098 +1.3042 Dollar/Canadian CAD= 1.3166 1.3136 +0.23% -3.45% +1.3173 +1.3113 Australian/Doll AUD= 0.7172 0.7127 +0.63% +1.74% +0.7184 +0.7125 arEuro/Swiss EURCHF= 1.1359 1.1338 +0.19% +0.93% +1.1362 +1.1330 Euro/Sterling EURGBP= 0.8686 0.8680 +0.07% -3.32% +0.8699 +0.8669 NZ NZD= 0.6884 0.6843 +0.60% +2.49% +0.6901 +0.6827 Dollar/DollarDollar/Norway NOK= 8.5900 8.6043 -0.17% -0.56% +8.6161 +8.5658 Euro/Norway EURNOK= 9.7557 9.7578 -0.02% -1.52% +9.7663 +9.7345 Dollar/Sweden SEK= 9.3162 9.3435 -0.19% +3.93% +9.3462 +9.3014 Euro/Sweden EURSEK= 10.5790 10.5990 -0.19% +3.07% +10.5980 +10.5580
