Investing.com - The greenback jumped on Monday amid reports of the U.S. and China signing a trade deal by the end of the month.
While details still need to be worked out, Washington and Beijing are closing in on agreements around China increasing imports of U.S. agricultural and chemical products, lowering tariffs on U.S.-made goods and sanctions relief. A trade deal could be formally signed around March 27, The Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a basket of six major currencies, gained 0.29% to reach a two-week high of 96.727 as of 10:39 AM ET (15:39 GMT).
Traders seemed unmoved by comments from U.S. President Donald Trump, who criticized the Federal Reserve and blamed it for the stronger dollar,
"We have a gentleman that likes a very strong dollar at the Fed," Trump said at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference in Oxon Hill, MD, on Saturday. "I want a strong dollar, but I want a dollar that's great for our country not a dollar that is so strong that it is prohibitive for us to be dealing with other nations."
The Fed has paused on its pace of rate hikes as it evaluates headwinds in the domestic economy and abroad, removing the words “gradual increases” in interest rates from its policy statement in January.
The dollar was up against the safe-haven yen, with USD/JPY rising 0.05% to 111.94.
Elsewhere, the pound fell from earlier gains, with GBP/USD down 0.17% to 1.3177. The euro was lower, driven down by the higher U.S. dollar. EUR/USD slipped 0.56% to 1.1308.
In Australia, the AUD/USD was flat at 0.7077, while NZD/USD decreased 0.04% to 0.6796. The loonie was lower, with USD/CAD up 0.15% to 1.3313.