The Dollar firmed overnight after concerns grew over the U.S imposing more tariffs on China which could spark a renewed trade war between both economies. Concerns over U.S – China trade resurfaced this week after reports yesterday showed Washington was considering a range of tariffs on software-powered exports to China, which is apparently in retaliation for the recent rare earth export restrictions.
Traders also bought the Dollar ahead of tomorrow’s key Inflation release due tomorrow. The reading is expected to be the first major economic release since the U.S government shutdown which began just a few weeks ago. This release will be closely watched with The Federal Reserve meeting next week, where a 25 basis-point cut is largely expected.
Later in the session we also have U.S jobs data set to be released which is due to show an increase of 5,000 jobless claims since last week. This should realistically put more pressure on The Federal Reserve to reduce interest rates as the jobs market continues to struggle.
Another developing situation to keep an eye on is the latest round of sanctions placed on Russian Oil suppliers, both by the U.S and Europe. With Oil being priced in U.S Dollars this could also see the Dollar benefit as the situation develops further.
GBP/EUR 1.1493 GBP/USD 1.3342 GBP/AED 4.9010
GBP/AUD 2.0507 GBP/CHF 1.0634 GBP/CAD 1.8672
GBP/NZD 2.3218 EUR/USD 1.1593 GBP/ZAR 23.1992