* Graphic: World FX rates in 2019 http://tmsnrt.rs/2egbfVh
By Daniel Leussink
TOKYO, May 14 (Reuters) - China's offshore yuan hit a fresh
2019 low early in Asia on Tuesday and the safe-haven yen
remained supported as a fresh escalation in Sino-U.S. trade
tensions hit sentiment, with each country raising tariffs on the
other's goods.
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Monday he would meet
with Chinese President Xi Jinping at a G20 summit in Japan late
next month. Earlier, China said it would raise tariffs on a range of
U.S. goods including frozen vegetables and liquefied natural
gas, a move that followed Washington's decision last week to
hike its own levies on $200 billion in Chinese imports.
The U.S. Trade Representative's office also said it planned
to hold a public hearing next month on the possibility of
imposing duties of up to 25% on a further $300 billion worth of
imports from China. On Tuesday, the offshore yuan weakened to 6.9200 per dollar
CNH=D4 , its lowest against the greenback since late December.
It booked its steepest single-session decline in nine months
overnight, giving up nearly 1%.
"Volatility in the market has risen quite a lot. I think it
will take time before it will settle," said Yukio Ishizuki,
senior currency strategist at Daiwa Securities.
Ishizuki said he thought it was unlikely that sentiment
would deteriorate significantly from here ahead of Trump's
planned meeting with Xi next month.
"Quite a lot of negative news has come out. But with things
as they are, those have already been priced in by the market,"
he added.
The dollar index against a basket of six rivals was slightly
lower at 97.281 .DXY , having ended the previous session little
changed.
Against the Japanese yen, the dollar edged up to 109.42 yen
JPY= , recovering slightly after falling as low as 109.15 yen
in early trade.
The greenback remained within striking distance of a more
than three-month low of 109.02 yen brushed during the previous
session, when it shed nearly 0.6%.
The Japanese currency tends to benefit during geopolitical
or financial stress as Japan is the world's biggest creditor
nation.
The Australian dollar tacked on 0.2% to $0.6958 AUD=D4 ,
having hit its weakest against the greenback since early January
overnight.
Sterling and the euro both firmed 0.1%, to $1.2968 GBP=D4
and $1.1236 EUR= , respectively.
Focus on Tuesday was also on euro zone industrial production
for March and Germany's ZEW economic sentiment index for May,
both due around 0900 GMT.
Bitcoin, the world's best-known cryptocurrency, hit $8,000
on the Bitstamp exchange BTC=BTSP for the first time since
July last year, before retreating slightly. It was last up 1.4%
on the day at $7,919.74.
(Editing by Sam Holmes)