(Updates prices)
By Karen Brettell
NEW YORK, May 15 (Reuters) - The euro retraced earlier
losses against the U.S. dollar on Wednesday after administration
officials said that U.S. President Donald Trump is expected to
delay a decision on tariffs on imported cars and parts by up to
six months.
A formal announcement is expected by Saturday, the due date
for Trump to make a decision on recommendations by the Commerce
Department to protect the U.S. auto industry from imports on
national security grounds. “The assumption is that that's going to delay any tariffs on
European autos, which has been the issue hanging over the
broader trade talks,” said Shaun Osborne, chief FX strategist at
Scotiabank in Toronto.
The greenback has benefited from its safe-haven status even
as the United States and China remain locked in a trade war.
Trump threatened higher tariffs on billions of dollars of
Chinese imports last week, and Beijing responded with planned
tariff hikes of its own on Monday. The euro had weakened earlier on Wednesday as Italy's Deputy
Prime Minister Matteo Salvini criticized European Union rules
for the second day.
"If there are European rules that are starving a continent,
these rules must be changed," Salvini said on Wednesday, a day
after he said the government was ready to breach EU rules that
seek to limit budget deficits and curb excessive debt.
“There are definitely concerns heading into the European
elections next week that there could be some more rhetoric
against the EU,” said Erik Nelson, a currency strategist at
Wells Fargo in New York.
Salvini's comments overshadowed data showing Germany's
economy returned to growth in the March quarter as householders
spent more freely and construction activity picked up.
Safe-haven currencies including the Japanese yen and U.S.
dollar were also boosted after weak economic data in China
raised new concerns about growth there.
China reported surprisingly weaker growth in retail sales
and industrial output for April, adding pressure on Beijing to
roll out more monetary stimulus as the trade war with the U.S.
escalates. “This data preceded the latest round of tariffs, so that's a
bit worrying that even before this flared up we saw some
weakness,” Nelson said.
U.S. data on Wednesday showed that U.S. retail sales
unexpectedly fell in April as households cut back on purchases
of motor vehicles and a range of other goods while U.S.
industrial production also dropped last month. Currency bid prices at 2:17PM (1817 GMT)
Description RIC Last U.S. Close Pct Change YTD Pct High Bid Low Bid
Previous Change
Session
Euro/Dollar EUR= $1.1205 $1.1203 +0.02% -2.30% +1.1224 +1.1178
Dollar/Yen JPY= 109.5400 109.5900 -0.05% -0.65% +109.7000 +109.1600
Euro/Yen EURJPY= 122.74 122.79 -0.04% -2.76% +123.0900 +122.1000
Dollar/Swiss CHF= 1.0093 1.0085 +0.08% +2.84% +1.0094 +1.0056
Sterling/Dollar GBP= 1.2854 1.2904 -0.39% +0.76% +1.2922 +1.2827
Dollar/Canadian CAD= 1.3427 1.3459 -0.24% -1.54% +1.3493 +1.3427
Australian/Doll AUD= 0.6929 0.6941 -0.17% -1.70% +0.6947 +0.6915
ar
Euro/Swiss EURCHF= 1.1311 1.1301 +0.09% +0.51% +1.1313 +1.1265
Euro/Sterling EURGBP= 0.8715 0.8680 +0.40% -2.99% +0.8737 +0.8669
NZ NZD= 0.6561 0.6574 -0.20% -2.32% +0.6577 +0.6551
Dollar/Dollar
Dollar/Norway NOK= 8.7139 8.7442 -0.35% +0.87% +8.7628 +8.7098
Euro/Norway EURNOK= 9.7682 9.7983 -0.31% -1.39% +9.8186 +9.7678
Dollar/Sweden SEK= 9.5924 9.6022 -0.11% +7.01% +9.6383 +9.5775
Euro/Sweden EURSEK= 10.7501 10.7615 -0.11% +4.74% +10.7822 +10.7470
(Editing by James Dalgleish and Cynthia Osterman)