Global stocks gain as Mexico tariffs averted and yuan falls to 2019 lows

Gold slipped

The Federal Reserve’s next policy meeting is set for June 18-19.

The euro was little changed at $1.1329 near a 2½-month high of $1.1348 touched on Friday.

Gold slipped 0.8%, having hit a 14-month high of $1,348.1 per ounce on Friday, near a major resistance around $1,350.

The Chinese yuan was soft after China’s central bank chief said late last week there is no one specific “numerical number” that is more important than another when asked if there is a red line for Beijing.

“Recent comments from current and former central bank governors suggest a consensus is building among Chinese policymakers that they do not attach much significance to defending the seven per dollar level,” said Ei Kaku, currency strategist at Nomura Securities.

The yuan fell about 0.35% to as low as 6.9366 per dollar, its lowest since early December, in the onshore trade. The offshore yuan traded at 6.9385 yuan per dollar, having hit a seven-month low of 6.9616 on Friday.

“The yuan would weaken further should there be no summit meetings between the two countries at an upcoming G20 meeting in Osaka,” Nomura’s Kaku said.

Many investors are still clinging to hopes that Trump will meet Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sideline of Group of 20 leaders’ meeting late in June to seek compromise on trade and other economic issues.

Ahead of the summit, G20 finance leaders said on Sunday that trade and geopolitical tensions have “intensified”, raising risks to improving global growth, but they stopped short of calling for a resolution of the deepening US-China trade conflict.

Oil prices extended gains after Saudi Arabia said on Friday Opec and non-member Russia are close to agreeing to extend an output production cut beyond June and as Wall Street rallied.

Brent futures rose 0.25% to $63.45 per barrel while US crude futures gained 0.57% to $54.30.

Reuters