* Trump says trade deal is close, but offers no new details
* Dollar steady near multi-week highs
* Kiwi treads water ahead of RBNZ rate decision
* Graphic: World FX rates in 2019 http://tmsnrt.rs/2egbfVh
By Tom Westbrook
SINGAPORE, Nov 13 (Reuters) - The dollar clung to most of
its recent gains on Wednesday after U.S. President Donald Trump
said a trade deal with China was "close" but offered no new
details on negotiations to send the greenback higher.
Hopes for an imminent a deal to wind back tit-for-tat
tariffs the world's two largest economies have imposed on each
other have lifted the dollar 1% this week to a one-month high of
98.423 overnight against a basket of currencies .DXY .
It slipped a little lower to 98.309, though moves were
modest as investors waited for more concrete trade news.
Antipodean currencies trod water ahead of a central bank
rate-setting decision in New Zealand and after data showed
Australian wages growth further slowed, as expected, in the
third quarter. Trump's overnight speech at the Economic Club of New York
reprised well-worn criticism of the U.S. Federal Reserve for
failing to cut interest rates deeply enough and rhetoric about
China's "cheating" on trade. However he did say a deal "could happen soon," which was
enough keep the dollar from slipping.
"(It) was heavy on rhetoric and light on detail, leaving
markets none the wiser," National Australia Bank's senior FX
strategist Rodrigo Catril said in a note.
The dollar hit a month-high against the euro EUR=
overnight and steadied near that level at $1.012 on Wednesday.
China's yuan weakened past the 7-per-dollar mark after the
speech and was steady at 7.0232 per dollar CNH= in offshore
trade on Wednesday.
Against the Japanese yen JPY= the dollar was stable at
108.97 yen - not far below the 5 1/2 month high of 109.48 yen it
hit last week.
The British pound GBP= was steady at $1.2850, after a
brief boost from the Brexit Party's decision not to contest
Conservative-held seats at December's election faded.
The Australian dollar AUD=D3 sat at $0.6842, close by a
two-week trough.
The New Zealand dollar NZD=D3 , which fell to near a
month-low on Tuesday after a soft survey on inflation
expectations, edged up slightly to $0.6335 ahead of the Reserve
Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) interest rate-decision at 0100 GMT.
Futures markets have priced in a 75% chance of a rate cut.
"A cut on its own probably wouldn't do to much to the
market, but if you got an 'on-hold,' that would be a very big
reaction upwards in the kiwi," said Imre Speizer, head of New
Zealand strategy at Westpac Bank in Auckland.
"To get a downwards reaction, I think they've got to cut and
then signal clearly further cuts to come."
Later on Wednesday, Fed Chairman Jerome Powell is due to
testify on the U.S. economic outlook before the congressional
Joint Economic Committee at 1600 GMT.
The first public hearings in Trump's impeachment inquiry
begin an hour earlier at 1500 GMT.