Investing.com - The U.S. dollar was lower on Monday as investors remained cautious after U.S. President Donald Trump denied he would roll back tariffs on Chinese goods.
Hope of a trade deal diminished after Trump said on Friday that he had not agreed to end tariffs on Chinese goods as part of a trade deal, as was claimed by the Chinese Commerce Ministry earlier last week.
Talks were moving slower than he would like, and he would only make a deal if it was best for America, Trump added on Saturday.
The greenback was also held back by a surge of unrest in Hong Kong, as police used live ammunition on protesters who had tried to block roads and delay trains during the morning commute. Elsewhere, protesters set a man arguing with them on fire.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a basket of six major currencies, slipped 0.2% to 98.058 as of 10:45 AM ET (14:45 GMT).
The safe haven Japanese yen was higher with USD/JPY down 0.2% to 109.08.
Elsewhere, sterling surged after Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage said his party would not challenge any seats currently held by the Conservative Party. His comments increase the chances of the Tories winning a majority during the U.K. general election on Dec. 12. That would secures the EU withdrawal agreement made last month by Prime Minister Boris Johnson. GBP/USD jumped 0.8% to 1.2868, not far from an earlier high of 1.2883. The euro was higher against the dollar, with EUR/USD rising 0.2% to 1.1033.