TOKYO — The dollar climbed in Asian trade on Monday after weekend talks between the United States and China eased concerns of a trade war between the world’s two biggest economies while global hot spots appeared to cool.
The greenback, Treasuries and equities have taken a beating since sweeping tariffs announced by US President Donald Trump last month shook confidence in American assets. After talks in Geneva, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Trade Representative Jamieson Greer on Sunday said a deal had been reached with China to cut the US trade deficit.
Further details are expected on Monday. Eyes will also be on US earnings and data this week, including consumer price index (CPI) figures on Tuesday, for indications of how the trade spat has impacted the economy and expectations for rate hikes by the US Federal Reserve.
“I suspect that talk of the demise of the US dollar as a reserve currency is premature and that we’ll see a more normal trading pattern resume once we have some clarity around global trade,” said Michael McCarthy, chief executive officer of online trading platform Moomoo Australia.
“US inflation data is obviously going to be very important, and for the Aussie we’ll be looking at the unemployment data this week, but I think it’s trade talks that are very likely to dominate market action,” he added.
India and Pakistan announced a ceasefire over the weekend following the four days of fighting between the nuclear powers that had rattled markets. And Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said he was ready to meet Russian leader Vladimir Putin in Turkey on Thursday for direct talks, the first since early months of the 2022 invasion.
