FOREX-Dollar lifted by cautious optimism for Trump trade speech

(New throughout; updates dateline, previous LONDON, changes
byline)
By Kate Duguid
Nov 12 (Reuters) - The dollar was broadly stronger on
Tuesday on guarded optimism ahead of a speech by U.S. President
Donald Trump in which he is expected to delay a tariff decision
on European automakers by six months, according to European
Union officials.
Trump's lunchtime speech at The Economic Club of New York
will be closely watched by investors anxious for any positive
news about his administration's long-running trade war with
China. EU officials said while a further six-month delay was
likely, Trump's actions were unpredictable and he would likely
keep the threat of car tariffs hanging over them as the United
States and the EU pursue trade negotiations in the coming year.
"All eyes will be on the president as he addresses the
Economic Club of New York, possibly speaking to the current
situation with trade, likely either giving it strength or
pouring cold water on the progress. Sometimes you just don't
know, and handicapping this president has proven to be quite
difficult," said Kevin Giddis, chief fixed income strategist at
Raymond James.
Against a basket of six currencies, the dollar .DXY was up
0.13%, last trading at 98.330. Against the euro EUR= it was
0.16% stronger, last at $1.102.
The greenback was also higher against traditional safe-haven
currencies as investor demand for risk picked up modestly; it
was up 0.09% against the Japanese yen JPY= and 0.13% versus
the Swiss franc CHF= .
The offshore Chinese yuan was roughly flat against the
dollar at around 7, a threshold it crossed for the first time in
August CNH= . The yuan weakened on political unrest in Hong
Kong and after weak economic data in mainland China.
In Hong Kong, riot police fired tear gas at a university
campus on Tuesday, a day after a protester was shot and a man
set on fire as the police crackdown on dissent in the
Chinese-ruled city has intensified. The dollar was boosted last week when comments from the
Chinese trade ministry were interpreted as a sign of progress on
rolling back China-U.S. tariffs, causing traders to dump
safe-haven currencies such as the yen. However, uncertainty hit
again on Friday when Trump said that he had not agreed to reduce
tariffs.