- The dollar is stronger as the risk fears are back.
- President Trump bans all deals with TikTok parent company, starting in 45 days.
- Upbeat China trade numbers overshadowed by the political tensions.
EUR/USD is trading near 1.1826, down 0.40 Percent from earlier close; the pair had failed to sustain its gains above 1.1900 on Thursday.
Sino-US Tensions
The relations between the world’s largest economies received another hit on Thursday: the US President Trump banned any transactions with ByteDance. This Chinese company owns the video-sharing app TikTok. The executive order explained the ban as a necessity for national security and allowed a window of 45 days for any US deal with the company.
The US and China are already acting tough with each other: differences are on various issues ranging from the origin of the coronavirus to the democracy in Hong Kong.
The US dollar is gaining ground against its competitors as the risk-off mood is emerging stronger today, with the S&P futures and pro-risk assets trading weak. The dollar index, which reflects dollar value against a basket of currencies, is showing a gain of 0.4 Percent trading at 93.14.
China’s July export rose by 7.2 Percent, measured in the dollar terms, while imports were down 1.4 Percent from a year ago, according to the data released today by the country’s General Administration of Customs. The surge in exports is taken as an indication of better global growth prospects.
EUR/USD will now look for clues from the German Industrial Production, and then the US July employment numbers during the US session.