Since Friday, not much changed in the international exchange market. Chinese yuan last traded at 6.9315 per dollar CNY=. On Friday, traders focused on December job-market data due at 1330 GMT. In December, the consensus forecast was for 164,000 extra jobs. It happened after a bumper 266,000 added in November.
Last month United States President Donald Trump announced that the Phase-one trade deal with China would be signed on January 15. Nevertheless, on Thursday, he said that the agreement might be signed “shortly after that.”
On Friday, the Australian and New Zealand dollars led gains among major currencies. Investors prompted to buy riskier currencies because of the eased geopolitical tensions. Last week there was relatively upbeat U.S. economic data, which is benefiting the sentiment.
Against the broad rivals of its basket, the dollar held firm. It is on track to post its best week for the last two months. It is because the prospect of war ebbed in the Middle East. The United States and Iran backed away from further confrontations.
Chinese Yuan and Other Currencies
Last week another strong performer was a Chinese yuan. Despite the geopolitical turbulence, it climbed to a five-month high. However, optimism is growing because January 15 is a date for signing the China-U.S. trade deal.
Manuel Oliveri is a currency strategist at Credit Agricole in London. The risk sentiment is back, Oliveri said. The hopes of an interim trade deal between China and the United States contributed to this as early as next week.
The Aussie strength was curbed on risings bets of an interest rate cut as early as February, though it gained a third of a percent to $0.68755. The New Zealand dollar edged up 0.2% to $0.6622.
The dollar broadly outperformed in the G10 FX weekly. This week there was a robust data, which shows a pick-up in the U.S. service sector.
We see that the situation is mostly the same for now, as it was on Friday.
