Dollar falls on trade talk woes
The US dollar fell against most of major currencies during trading hours on Monday, after President Donald Trump's remarks reignited investors' concerns over the trade talks.
Trump said that the US was ready to restore the tariffs on imports from China if no trade deal is reached, and Beijing still wants a trade deal, adding "we'll see what happens in the coming period".
Trump said the bill signing to support protesters in Hong Kong doesn’t make the trade talks with China "better."
The US president emphasized that he decided to impose tariffs on steel imports from Brazil and Argentina.
Trump attributed the decision to Brazil and Argentina manipulation of their currencies' exchange rate, real and peso, against the US dollar.
The dollar index rose against a basket of currencies by 0.4% to 97.8 points as of 19:19 GMT, and hit an intraday high of 98.3 and a low of 97.8.
Britain's manufacturing PMI beats forecasts
At 09:30 GMT, Britain released its final reading for the manufacturing PMI during November at 48.9 points, higher than forecasts of 48.3, and better than the flash reading of 48.3, while October's reading reached 49.6. This data is positive for the British pound.
US manufacturing sector slows in November
The Institute for Supply Management (ISM) showed today that US manufacturing PMI slowed in November.
The ISM Manufacturing PMI in November reached 48.1 points vs. 48.3 in October, lower than forecasts of 49.2.
This comes after doubts over the US-China trade talks were renewed during the last month.
Nickel remains near 4-month low
Nickel prices fell today, to remain near the 4-week low amid a slowdown in Chinese steel production -the world's largest nickel consumer- while the Indonesian decision to fully ban nickel ore exports is approaching.
The widely used metal in the steel industry, Nickel, rose to a 5-year high in September after Indonesia announced that the exports ban decision would come into force in next January.
This comes amid concerns about the US-China trade war and uncertainty around unresolved issues, which put pressure on metal prices due to fears over demand by the US and China.
China, the largest metals consumer, has shutdown more than 1,300 heavy metal factories since 2016, within its plan to reduce pollution.
As for trading, nickel spot futures price fell by 2.3% to $13,636.7 per tonne as of 14:30, and hit a session-high of $13,806.5.