While Trump vowed on the campaign trail to label China a currency manipulator on his first day in office, he didn't do it, and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin has said the official assessment will come in a semi-annual foreign-currency report due this month. "But that's hurting-that will hurt ultimately", Trump said in an interview with the Wall Street Journal.
A week after Trump and President Xi Jinping agreed at their summit in Florida to start 100-day talks to solve the United States trade imbalance, Trump told the Wall Street Journal on Wednesday that China had not manipulated its currency for months, and added that the USA dollar was getting too strong.
A U.S. Treasury spokesman could not immediately be reached for comment on Trump's comments and on the currency report.
China should enhance and strengthen the role of the yuan as an global reserve currency, a senior Chinese central bank official said in an article published hours after US President Donald Trump said China would not be labelled as a currency manipulator. Benchmark 10-year Treasury yields were 3 basis points lower at 2.268 per cent after hitting 2.259 per cent, which was the lowest since November 17. That would mark the dollar's steepest weekly fall since before the USA presidential election in November and the sharpest yield drop since June past year.
"I think our dollar is getting too strong, and partially that's my fault because people have confidence in me".
Most financial markets will be closed on Friday for the Good Friday holiday, meaning trading volumes on Thursday have been much lighter than usual. On Wednesday, the FTSE-100 declined 0.2 percent and the CAC-40 lost 0.1 percent while the DAX was unchanged.
European bank stocks were down more than 1 percent as the flatter yield curve hurt banks' profitability. Markets in Asia have been rattled by saber-rattling between North Korea and the U.S. The Trump administration's has sent an aircraft carrier to waters off the Korean Peninsula as a show of force amid speculation that North Korea will stage a weapons test in coming days.
Ex-sheriff Arpaio's lawyers seek to dismiss contempt case
Arpaio's lawyers argued the civil case was being appealed and the criminal case should be held until it was decided. He's charged with contempt for ignoring a court order in a racial-profiling case to stop his immigration patrols.
Asian stocks swung between gains and losses with MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan last up about 0.2 per cent.
CURRENCY: After slumping in the wake of Trump's comments, the dollar steadied at 109.10 yen, compared with Wednesday's 108.80 yen.
CHINA TRADE: China's export growth accelerated in March while import growth moderated to still-robust double-digit levels in upbeat news for Chinese economic growth and global demand. Markets are uneasy about the victory chances of both far-right leader Marine Le Pen, who has pledged to seek to take France out of the euro, and far-left candidate Jean-Luc Melenchon, who has seen his support climb in the polls.
"I think the price action in core yields is mainly shaped by the rising geopolitical concerns but also French election nerves increasing safe-haven flows", said ING strategist Martin Van Vliet.
In commodities, oil prices fell as concerns about rising US output continued to weigh.
US crude slipped about 0.1 per cent to $53.06 a barrel, extending Wednesday's 0.5 per cent loss that saw it break a six-session winning streak.
Toshiba fell 1.98 per cent as speculation swirls over its plan to sell a prized memory chip unit to plug huge losses. The S&P slid 0.4 percent.
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