LDN - Business

Savaged dollar steadies ahead of Fed, stocks rise

[February 01, 2017] By Marc Jones

LONDON (Reuters) - The dollar steadied on Wednesday and world stocks made their first gain in five days, having been whipped into worry by Trump administration claims that Germany, Japan and China had devalued their currencies.

The dollar suffered its worst January in three decades after President Donald Trump complained that every "other country lives on devaluation," while the U.S sat by "like a bunch of dummies".

It recovered a modest 0.15 percent in Asian and European trading. Bruised dollar bulls reassured themselves that the Federal Reserve should signal later that it still plans to raise U.S. interest rates a number of times this year.

Wall Street futures also pointed to a 0.3-0.6 percent bounce after Apple reported a strong revival in iPhone sales and healthy results from a slew of Europe's bluechips had lifted its big bourses 1 percent.

That all combined to help MSCI's 46-country All World index snap a four-day losing streak though the recent protectionist noises from Trump's team kept markets jittery.

Trump's top trade adviser had also said on Tuesday that Germany was using a "grossly undervalued" euro to exploit its trading partners. The accusations drew rebuttals from German and Japanese officials, but looked likely to run for some time.

"The issue is at what point do investors get concerned that the potential negative shock effects from trade, immigration and geopolitics overwhelm the positives (of potential U.S. stimulus)," said Bluebay asset management head of Credit Strategy David Riley.

There was little reaction to a raft of European data. Sterling <GBP=D3> nudged up after figures showed its fall since June's Brexit vote had stoked the sharpest rise in factory costs on record a day ahead of a Bank of England inflation report.

Euro zone factories meanwhile started 2017 by ramping up activity at the fastest rate for nearly six years.

Despite that France's government borrowing costs continued to outpace Germany's or even Belgium's as pressure simmered ahead of elections in April and May.

Marine Le Pen's strongly polling National Front party said on Tuesday it would put leaving the euro at the heart of its economic platform.

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The dollar sign (R) is seen alongside the signs for other currencies above a currency exchange shop in Mongkok shopping district in Hong Kong, China, October 30, 2014. REUTERS/Damir Sagolj/File Photo

"The France (bond yield) spread to Belgium is the gauge we use for political risk, and that has widened further after an adviser to Le Pen fleshed out their Frexit plans," said ING strategist Martin van Vliet, using a term similar to the Brexit

FED ON HOLD

Overnight in Asia, Japanese investors seemed relieved the yen's rise against the dollar on Tuesday had not been larger. They nudged the Nikkei up 0.6 percent and MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan up 0.1 percent in a largely quiet session.

Chinese markets were still on holiday but surveys from the Asian giant showed manufacturing and services activity continued to expand in January.

Exports from tech bellwether South Korea also grew at the fastest pace in almost five years, another sign the global economy had been on the mend before all the talk of U.S. protectionism darkened the air.

Investors' hopes for a fiscal boost to the world's largest economy under Trump have been tempered by controversial and protectionist policies that have seen him suspend travel to the United States from seven Muslim-majority countries.

The policy uncertainty only added to expectations the U.S. Federal Reserve will keep interest rates steady when it concludes a two-day meeting later Wednesday.

The recent retreat in the dollar also boosted a range of commodities, with copper near two-month highs as a strike also loomed the world's biggest copper mine in Chile.

Oil edged further above $55 a barrel too supported by signs that Russia and OPEC producers are delivering on promised supply reductions. Brent crude oil for April added 55 cents to $56.14, while U.S. crude rose 47 cents to $53.29.

(Additional reporting by Wayne Cole in Sydney; Editing by Toby Chopra)

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