FOREX-Dollar yen Swiss franc rise on latest US tariff threat

    * China yuan falls to five-month low in offshore market
    * Jittery traders pile into safe-haven yen, Swiss franc
    * Trade war fears pummel commodity, emerging market
currencies
    * Euro under pressure, Sintra forum eyed for more ECB rate
clues

 (Updates market action, changes dateline, previous LONDON)
    By Richard Leong
    NEW YORK, June 19 (Reuters) - The dollar, yen and Swiss
franc rose on Tuesday as traders piled into perceived less risky
currencies after U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to slap
more tariffs on China, fanning a trade dispute between the
world's two biggest economies.
    Trump said he would impose a 10 percent tariff on $200
billion of Chinese goods, following levies on $50 billion worth
of Chinese imports enacted last week.
    China's commerce ministry warned on Tuesday that Beijing
would fight back firmly with "qualitative" and "quantitative"
measures if the United States implements more tariffs. 
    Fears of a trade war that could harm global growth spurred
sales of the Chinese yuan, which fell to a five-month trough in
the offshore market, as well as commodity-linked and emerging
market currencies. 
    Worries about a growing U.S.-China trade spat also sparked a
selloff in stock markets around the world.
    "A pending trade war and a selloff in global equities is
benefiting the yen and dollar," said John Doyle, vice president
of dealing and trading at Tempus Inc in Washington. "Emerging
market currencies, especially the South African rand, are taking
the bulk of the heat."
    The index that tracks the greenback against the euro, yen,
sterling and three other currencies reached 95.296, the
highest since last July. It was last up 0.35 percent at 95.133.
    The yen climbed 0.5 percent at 109.95 yen per dollar,
while it advanced 1 percent versus the euro to 127.09 yen
, its strongest in over two weeks.
    The Swiss franc increased 0.6 percent against the euro at
1.1495 franc and was marginally higher versus the
greenback at 0.9948 franc.
    Among the day's losers, the yuan weakened to 6.491 to the
dollar in the offshore market, the lowest in five
months.
    "Of course a far-reaching trade war would be detrimental for
everyone in the end, but mainly the countries whose growth
heavily depends on foreign trade," said Commerzbank currency
strategist Thu Lan Nguyen in Frankfurt.     
    The Australian dollar sagged to a one-year low of
$0.73475 as the trade tension hurt base metal prices.

    The Canadian dollar fell to a one-year low of C$1.3291 on
worries about Canada's own trade feud with the United States.

    In emerging markets, the South African rand tumbled
to its weakest level in nearly seven months at 13.7895 rand per
dollar.
    In addition to trade concerns, the euro slumped to a
two-week low of $1.1528 after European Central Bank President
Mario Draghi called for a patient approach to European monetary
policy at a forum in Portugal. 
    The single currency was also under pressure as German
Chancellor Angela Merkel's Bavarian allies may defy her by
implementing a plan to limit immigration at the German border,
which could destabilise her three-month-old coalition.

========================================================
    Currency bid prices at 9:43AM (1343 GMT)
 Description      RIC         Last           U.S. Close  Pct Change     YTD Pct     High Bid    Low Bid
                                              Previous                   Change                 
                                              Session                                           
 Euro/Dollar      EUR=        $1.1555        $1.1622     -0.58%         +0.00%      +1.1644     +1.1531
 Dollar/Yen       JPY=        109.9600       110.5400    -0.52%         +0.00%      +110.5700   +109.5600
 Euro/Yen         EURJPY=     127.07         128.48      -1.10%         +0.00%      +128.5100   +126.6600
 Dollar/Swiss     CHF=        0.9947         0.9950      -0.03%         +0.00%      +0.9977     +0.9919
 Sterling/Dollar  GBP=        1.3171         1.3242      -0.54%         +0.00%      +1.3273     +1.3151
 Dollar/Canadian  CAD=        1.3271         1.3198      +0.55%         +0.00%      +1.3291     +1.3196
 Australian/Doll  AUD=        0.7364         0.7421      -0.77%         +0.00%      +0.7427     +0.7348
 ar                                                                                             
 Euro/Swiss       EURCHF=     1.1495         1.1564      -0.60%         +0.00%      +1.1571     +1.1488
 Euro/Sterling    EURGBP=     0.8771         0.8774      -0.03%         +0.00%      +0.8781     +0.8754
 NZ Dollar/Dolar  NZD=        0.6891         0.6942      -0.73%         +0.00%      +0.6943     +0.6886
 Dollar/Norway    NOK=        8.2014         8.1258      +0.93%         +0.00%      +8.2277     +8.1148
 Euro/Norway      EURNOK=     9.4784         9.4456      +0.35%         +0.00%      +9.5155     +9.4427
 Dollar/Sweden    SEK=        8.9286         8.8142      +0.72%         +0.00%      +8.9499     +8.8086
 Euro/Sweden      EURSEK=     10.3186        10.2449     +0.72%         +0.00%      +10.3465    +10.2438
 
    

    
 (Additional reporting by Tom Finn in LONDON
Editing by Andrew Heavens and Meredith Mazzilli)
Let's block ads! (Why?)
Read Again FOREX-Dollar, yen, Swiss franc rise on latest US tariff threat : https://ift.tt/2yn1pLs
Let's block ads! (Why?)