(New throughout, updates trading and comments to U.S. market open, new byline, changes dateline, previous LONDON)
By Karen Brettell
NEW YORK, May 17 (Reuters) - The safe-haven Japanese yen gained on Friday and the offshore Chinese yuan weakened as escalating trade tensions between the United States and China raised concerns about global growth.
The United States must show sincerity if it is to hold meaningful trade talks, China said on Friday, after U.S. President Donald Trump dramatically raised the stakes with a potentially devastating blow to Chinese tech giant Huawei. from both sides is getting more heated, making a US-China deal seem a long way off,” Win Thin, global head of currency strategy at Brown Brothers Harriman in New York, said in a report.
“At this point, this means there will be no high-level negotiations between the two until a potential Trump-Xi (Jinping) meeting at the G20 meeting in late June. This means the next round of tariffs will likely come into play, signaling further escalation and making a deal that much harder,” Thin said.
The world's two largest economies are locked in an increasingly acrimonious trade dispute that has seen them level escalating tariffs on each other's imports in the midst of negotiations.
The Chinese yuan fell as far as 6.949 against the dollar on Friday, its weakest level since Nov. 30.
China's central bank will use foreign exchange intervention and monetary policy tools to ensure the yuan does not weaken past the 7-per-dollar key level in the immediate term, three people familiar with the central bank's thinking said. Australian dollar AUD= dropped to its lowest level since Jan. 3 on the escalating trade tensions. euro gave back earlier losses against the dollar after the White House said that President Donald Trump is delaying a decision by up to six months on whether to impose tariffs on imported cars and parts to allow for more time for trade talks with the European Union and Japan. single currency has been hurt this week by Italian Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini's comments that European Union rules harm the country.
Salvini said on Thursday that he would "tear apart" rules that are "strangling" Italy if his party scores well in the European parliamentary elections next week. hit a four-month low on Friday after cross-party Brexit talks collapsed and concern grew about the impact Prime Minister Theresa May's likely resignation would have on Britain's exit from the European Union. bid prices at 9:04AM (1304 GMT) Description
RIC
Last
U.S. Close Pct Change
YTD Pct
High Bid
Low Bid
Previous
Change
Session
Euro/Dollar
$1.1172
$1.1172
+0.00%
-2.59%
+1.1184
+1.1159 Dollar/Yen
109.5800
109.8400
-0.24%
-0.62%
+110.0300 +109.5100 Euro/Yen
EURJPY=
122.44
122.73
-0.24%
-2.99%
+122.9600 +122.2900 Dollar/Swiss
CHF=
1.0101
1.0098
+0.03%
+2.92%
+1.0113
+1.0086 Sterling/Dollar GBP=
1.2750
1.2795
-0.35%
-0.05%
+1.2807
+1.2737 Dollar/Canadian CAD=
1.3511
1.3457
+0.40%
-0.92%
+1.3512
+1.3456 Australian/Doll AUD=
0.6880
0.6892
-0.17%
-2.40%
+0.6897
+0.6873 ar
Euro/Swiss
EURCHF=
1.1287
1.1284
+0.03%
+0.28%
+1.1293
+1.1270 Euro/Sterling
EURGBP=
0.8762
0.8730
+0.37%
-2.47%
+0.8766
+0.8728 NZ
NZD=
0.6527
0.6534
-0.11%
-2.83%
+0.6546
+0.6525 Dollar/Dollar
Dollar/Norway
8.7652
8.7440
+0.24%
+1.46%
+8.7779
+8.7399 Euro/Norway
EURNOK=
9.7961
9.7821
+0.14%
-1.13%
+9.8012
+9.7764 Dollar/Sweden
SEK=
9.6251
9.6370
-0.14%
+7.38%
+9.6536
+9.6178 Euro/Sweden
EURSEK=
10.7553
10.7703
-0.14%
+4.79%
+10.7888
+10.7490