FOREX-Yen gains as report casts doubts on trade deal

* CNBC reports that China is pessimistic about tariffs * Sterling gains on hopes of Brexit deal (New throughout, updates prices, market activity and comments to U.S. market open, new byline, changes dateline, previous LONDON) By Karen Brettell NEW YORK, Nov 18 (Reuters) - The safe haven Japanese yen gained 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 to 108.64, from 109.02 before the CNBC report was released. The euro reached at 10-day high against the greenback at 1.1063. 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. "Market participants remain optimistic that a partial U.S.-China trade deal will be signed soon and have welcomed tentative signs of economic improvement outside of the U.S., especially in the euro zone, both of which are eroding the relative appeal of the U.S. dollar," Lee Hardman, currency analyst at MUFG, said. 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 TD's 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 9:42AM (1442 GMT) Description RIC Last U.S. Close Pct Change YTD Pct High Bid Low Bid Previous Change Session Euro/Dollar EUR= $1.1063 $1.1050 +0.12% -3.54% +1.1068 +1.1050 Dollar/Yen JPY= 108.6400 108.7300 -0.08% -1.47% +109.0600 +108.6300 Euro/Yen EURJPY= 120.19 120.20 -0.01% -4.78% +120.6800 +120.1000 Dollar/Swiss CHF= 0.9880 0.9897 -0.17% +0.67% +0.9914 +0.9882 Sterling/Dollar GBP= 1.2963 1.2899 +0.50% +1.61% +1.2984 +1.2901 Dollar/Canadian CAD= 1.3223 1.3221 +0.02% -3.04% +1.3235 +1.3210 Australian/Doll AUD= 0.6805 0.6819 -0.21% -3.46% +0.6822 +0.6799 ar Euro/Swiss EURCHF= 1.0931 1.0937 -0.05% -2.87% +1.0962 +1.0931 Euro/Sterling EURGBP= 0.8534 0.8565 -0.36% -5.01% +0.8566 +0.8523 NZ NZD= 0.6396 0.6399 -0.05% -4.78% +0.6412 +0.6391 Dollar/Dollar Dollar/Norway NOK= 9.1201 9.0898 +0.33% +5.57% +9.1330 +9.0642 Euro/Norway EURNOK= 10.0914 10.0410 +0.50% +1.87% +10.0988 +10.0272 Dollar/Sweden SEK= 9.6394 9.6390 +0.09% +7.54% +9.6490 +9.6195 Euro/Sweden EURSEK= 10.6654 10.6557 +0.09% +3.91% +10.6697 +10.6430 (Editing by Karen Brettell; Additional reporting by Olga Cotaga in London; Editing by Steve Orlofsky)