FOREX-Dollar drops as report casts doubts on trade deal

By Karen Brettell

* CNBC reports that China is pessimistic about tariffs * Sterling gains on hopes of Brexit deal * Trump met with Fed's Powell to discuss rates (Adds Trump/Powell meeting, updates prices) By Karen Brettell NEW YORK, Nov 18 (Reuters) - The dollar dropped against the yen and the euro on Monday after a media report dashed fresh hopes that the United States and China are close to reaching a trade deal. CNBC reported that China is pessimistic about reaching a trade deal due to U.S. President Donald Trump’s reluctance to roll back tariffs. It came after Chinese state media Xinhua said on Sunday that China and the United States had "constructive talks" on trade in a high-level phone call on Saturday. “I think the market is overreacting to this,” said Mazen Issa, senior FX strategist at TD Securities in New York. “There was nothing substantive that came out that suggested the deal is off or on, it’s just the ebb and flow” of the news each day. Investors are looking for signs that tariffs imposed on each country’s goods will be rolled back, as they are viewed as harming global economic growth. Another round of U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods is scheduled to take effect on Dec. 15. The yen gained sharply on the CNBC report, rising to 108.64, from 109.02. It was last 108.60. The euro also increased, before making larger gains after the Federal Reserve said that Trump and Fed Chair Jerome Powell met at the White House on Monday morning. "Everything was discussed including interest rates, negative interest, low inflation, easing, Dollar strength & its effect on manufacturing, trade with China, E.U. & others, etc.," Trump tweeted soon after, calling the session "good & cordial." The single currency was last at $1.1078, after earlier reaching $1.1090, the highest since Nov. 7. The single currency has rebounded from a more than two-year low of 1.0877 on Oct. 1 on optimism a trade deal will be signed and that the region's economy will improve. Still analysts say that the European and global economies need to show more strength to sustain a euro rally. “One of the things the euro is, is a pro-cyclical or growth currency and so when global growth performs well you tend to see the euro perform well, but we’re not there yet,” said Issa. Sterling, meanwhile, was boosted by expectations that the Conservative (Tory) Party could win a majority in the Dec. 12 election. It was also supported by British Prime Minister Boris Johnson saying that all Tory candidates in the election have pledged to back his Brexit deal, which could open the door to getting the agreement through parliament. ======================================================== Currency bid prices at 2:22PM (1922 GMT) Description RIC Last U.S. Close Pct Change YTD Pct High Bid Low Bid Previous Change Session Euro/Dollar EUR= $1.1078 $1.1050 +0.25% -3.41% +1.1090 +1.1050 Dollar/Yen JPY= 108.6000 108.7300 -0.12% -1.51% +109.0600 +108.5200 Euro/Yen EURJPY= 120.32 120.20 +0.10% -4.67% +120.6800 +120.1000 Dollar/Swiss CHF= 0.9881 0.9897 -0.16% +0.68% +0.9914 +0.9869 Sterling/Dollar GBP= 1.2961 1.2899 +0.48% +1.60% +1.2984 +1.2901 Dollar/Canadian CAD= 1.3204 1.3221 -0.13% -3.18% +1.3235 +1.3199 Australian/Doll AUD= 0.6814 0.6819 -0.07% -3.33% +0.6822 +0.6799 ar Euro/Swiss EURCHF= 1.0944 1.0937 +0.06% -2.75% +1.0962 +1.0931 Euro/Sterling EURGBP= 0.8545 0.8565 -0.23% -4.89% +0.8566 +0.8523 NZ NZD= 0.6404 0.6399 +0.08% -4.66% +0.6412 +0.6391 Dollar/Dollar Dollar/Norway NOK= 9.1093 9.0898 +0.21% +5.45% +9.1330 +9.0642 Euro/Norway EURNOK= 10.0917 10.0410 +0.50% +1.87% +10.0995 +10.0272 Dollar/Sweden SEK= 9.6226 9.6390 +0.06% +7.35% +9.6490 +9.6058 Euro/Sweden EURSEK= 10.6617 10.6557 +0.06% +3.87% +10.6697 +10.6430 (Editing by Steve Orlofsky and Lisa Shumaker)