Investing.com – The currency markets are mixed this Friday in Europe, the first signs of progress of the trade war us-china being offset by surveys showing greater weakness of China and other asian economies.
The dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of other currencies, was little changed at 95,31. The us dollar appreciated on Thursday evening in favor of encouraging comments from senior american officials and chinese, even if two days of trade talks ended without any concrete agreement.
President Donald Trump has hinted after the talks for a summit meeting with his counterpart Xi Jinping in February could help avoid a new increase in import tariffs of the United States on the chinese goods – which should enter into force in march.
However, the chinese yuan and the Aussie dollar has slid against the dollar Friday in Asia after the index Caixin/Markit Purchasing Managers showed that the manufacturing activity of china is contracted more quickly in January.
The index fell to 48.3, its lowest level since February of 2016, after a 49.7 in December. This figure was lower than the expected level of 49.5 and was more moderate than the official version of the index published yesterday.
The pair USD / CNY has jumped from 0.6% to 6,7424 to 03: 30 ET (08: 30 GMT). The yuan is without a doubt vulnerable to profit-taking after rising more than 3.5 percent against the dollar since the beginning of December.
The euro was little changed against the dollar, to 1,1452 dollar, before a series of readings of the PMI index for the whole region. The first of them, the PMI index of Spain, has defied all odds. It went from 51.1 in December to 52.4 in January.
The pound sterling was also little changed against the dollar and the euro, no major developments have been recorded about the Brexit.
