Investing.com - The U.S. dollar was weak despite reports that China is open to a partial trade deal despite the U.S. blacklisting Chinese firms earlier in the week, as traders await the Federal Reserve latest meeting minutes for clues on the direction of interest rates.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a basket of six major currencies, was down 0.1% to 98.762 as of 11:03 AM ET (15:03 GMT). Investors were also waiting for the minutes from the Federal Reserve’s latest policy meeting at 2:00 PM ET (18:00 GMT) for clues on whether or not the central bank will cut rates.
China is willing to accept a trade deal, Bloomberg reported, and has even offered to increase how many soybeans it buys from American farmers as a measure of goodwill before trade talks. Chinese Vice Premier Liu He is due to arrive this week in Washington for trade talks and is expected to meet U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on Thursday.
The Japanese yen, which is seen as a safe haven in times of market turmoil, fell, with USD/JPY rising 0.3% to 107.36.
Elsewhere, GBP/USD was flat at 1.2212 while EUR/USD gained 0.2% to 0.0977 as it appeared that Brexit talks between the EU and U.K. had stopped just a few weeks before the two were set to split. The two sides have struggled to reach an agreement over the Irish backstop, with the EU insisting that there is a way for controls to flow across the Irish border without additional checks and that Northern Ireland remain in the customs union until an alternative solution is found.