Investing.com - The U.S. dollar was lower on Tuesday after comments from U.S. President Donald Trump sparked a flight to safer assets.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a basket of six major currencies, slipped 0.1% to 97.680 as of 10:56 AM ET (15:56 GMT). The dollar was lower against the safe-haven Japanese yen, with USD/JPY down 0.4% to 108.55.
Trump told reporters in London that a trade deal may need to wait until after the 2020 election, which is a stark contrast to reports over the last two weeks.
"In some ways, I like the idea of waiting until after the election for the China deal, but they want to make a deal now and we will see whether or not the deal is going to be right," Trump told reporters in London.
He later said at a press conference with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau that China wants to make a deal. The U.S. is expected to go through with tariff increases against China on Dec. 15, which could spark more disagreements between the two superpowers.
Elsewhere, the pound rose after opinion polls showed UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson in the lead to win December’s election, which would secure a Brexit deal. GBP/USD gained 0.4% to 1.2980 and EUR/USD was flat at 1.1079. The South African rand extended declines against against the dollar after its economy contracted in the third quarter. USD/ZAR jumped 1.1% to 14.6931.