Early trade in New York: Dollar broadly stronger ahead of Trump speech

Trump's lunchtime speech at The Economic Club of New York will be closely watched by investors anxious for any positive news about his administration's long-running trade war with China.

EU officials said while a further six-month delay was likely, Trump's actions were unpredictable and he would likely keep the threat of car tariffs hanging over them as the United States and the EU pursue trade negotiations in the coming year.

"All eyes will be on the president as he addresses the Economic Club of New York, possibly speaking to the current situation with trade, likely either giving it strength or pouring cold water on the progress. Sometimes you just don't know, and handicapping this president has proven to be quite difficult," said Kevin Giddis, chief fixed income strategist at Raymond James.

Against a basket of six currencies, the dollar was up 0.13%, last trading at 98.330. Against the euro it was 0.16% stronger, last at $1.102.

The greenback was also higher against traditional safe-haven currencies as investor demand for risk picked up modestly; it was up 0.09% against the Japanese yen and 0.13% versus the Swiss franc.

The offshore Chinese yuan was roughly flat against the dollar at around 7, a threshold it crossed for the first time in August.

Copyright Reuters, 2019

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