* U.S., China sign preliminary trade deal
* UK inflation weaker than expected
(Adds U.S., China trade agreement, updates prices)
By Karen Brettell
NEW YORK, Jan 15 (Reuters) - The dollar pared losses but
remained lower against the euro and the yen on Wednesday after
the United States and China signed a deal to de-escalate their
trade war.
The two countries announced an initial trade deal on
Wednesday that will roll back some tariffs and boost Chinese
purchases of U.S. goods and services, defusing an 18-month
conflict between the world's two largest economies. But the deal will leave in place 25% tariffs on a vast, $250
billion array of Chinese industrial goods and components used by
U.S. manufacturers.
There is "not much of a reaction at all to the trade deal
signing," said Shaun Osborne, chief fx strategist at Scotiabank
in Toronto.
It may be a mild negative going forward for the greenback,
however.
"The dollar has done relatively well out of the uncertainty
element that this protracted trade war has caused," Osborne
said. "So, at the margin we think it's a dollar negative."
The euro EUR= was last up 0.22% against the greenback
at$1.1151. The dollar dropped 0.05% against the yen JPY= to
109.91, after the Japanese currency on Tuesday hit its weakest
level since May at 110.20.
Sterling GBP= edged higher, reversing earlier losses after
data showed UK inflation rose at its slowest in three years,
feeding expectations the Bank of England would cut rates in
January. “Directionally the market expected some weakness, but
probably the magnitude surprised,” said Vassili Serebriakov, an
fx strategist at UBS in New York.
The Swiss franc CHF= gained to its strongest against the
dollar in over a year, and its highest against the euro
EURCHF= in almost three years, after the United States on
Monday added Switzerland to its watchlist of currency
manipulators.
Analysts said the inclusion could discourage the Swiss
National Bank (SNB) from intervening to try to limit further
appreciation of the franc, although the Swiss finance ministry
said it would have no immediate consequences.
The Russian rouble weakened after the resignation of Prime
Minister Dmitry Medvedev's government. Currency bid prices at 2:17PM (1917 GMT)
Description RIC Last U.S. Close Pct Change YTD Pct High Bid Low Bid
Previous Change
Session
Euro/Dollar EUR= $1.1151 $1.1127 +0.22% -0.53% +1.1163 +1.1119
Dollar/Yen JPY= 109.9100 109.9700 -0.05% +0.96% +110.0100 +109.8000
Euro/Yen EURJPY= 122.55 122.39 +0.13% +0.49% +122.7100 +122.2100
Dollar/Swiss CHF= 0.9635 0.9672 -0.38% -0.44% +0.9680 +0.9631
Sterling/Dollar GBP= 1.3025 1.3017 +0.06% -1.76% +1.3042 +1.2988
Dollar/Canadian CAD= 1.3045 1.3060 -0.11% +0.45% +1.3078 +1.3035
Australian/Doll AUD= 0.6901 0.6900 +0.01% -1.71% +0.6916 +0.6878
Euro/Swiss EURCHF= 1.0748 1.0765 -0.16% -0.96% +1.0776 +1.0743
Euro/Sterling EURGBP= 0.8558 0.8549 +0.11% +1.23% +0.8578 +0.8538
NZ NZD= 0.6610 0.6613 -0.05% -1.87% +0.6620 +0.6585
Dollar/Dollar
Dollar/Norway NOK= 8.8620 8.8714 -0.11% +0.95% +8.8959 +8.8512
Euro/Norway EURNOK= 9.8825 9.8720 +0.11% +0.45% +9.9010 +9.8733
Dollar/Sweden SEK= 9.4580 9.4632 +0.18% +1.18% +9.4860 +9.4421
Euro/Sweden EURSEK= 10.5493 10.5308 +0.18% +0.77% +10.5648 +10.5310
(Editing by David Gregorio and Marguerita Choy)