Investing.com - The U.S. dollar was flat on Monday in Asia. U.S.-China trade developments and appearances by Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell this week are expected to be in focus.
The U.S. Dollar Index that tracks the greenback against a basket of other currencies last traded at 98.175 by 12:38 AM ET (04:38 GMT), down 0.03%.
Over the weekend, U.S. President Donald Trump denied reports that Beijing and Washington agreed to rollback some tariffs on each other’s goods, sparking fresh doubts about when the world's two largest economies may end a 16-month trade war that has slowed global growth.
However, Trump said negotiations are moving along “very nicely” and that “a lot of positive things are happening.” The president is due to give a speech at the Economic Club of New York on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, Powell is to testify on the economy before lawmakers in Washington on Wednesday and Thursday and is expected to reiterate that plans for further easing are now on hold after the Fed cut rates last month for the third time in as many meetings.
On the data front, A fresh round of U.S. economic data will be closely watched at a time when markets are trying to gauge the impact of the trade conflict on the outlook for growth.
Wednesday brings October's Consumer Price Index. Core year-on-year CPI is expected at 2.4% and headline at 1.7%. But the Fed's favorite measure of core personal consumption expenditures is running around 1.6% - hovering mostly below the 2% target since pre-financial crisis.
The USD/JPY pair lost 0.2% as the safe-haven rose amid falling Asian stocks today. Japan will release third-quarter growth data this week.
The AUD/USD pair slipped 0.1% to 0.6854. The NAB business confidence index is due on Tuesday, while Australia’s latest employment report is due on Thursday.
The NZD/USD pair gained 0.3% to 0.6347 as traders await Reserve Bank of New Zealand’s interest rate decision this week.