* China Nov exports fall as trade war bites
* Pound up on expectations of Conservative win in UK
election
* Focus turns to U.S.-China tariff deadline
* Fed, ECB meet this week, UK election on Thursday
(Updates to U.S. afternoon trading)
By Saqib Iqbal Ahmed
NEW YORK, Dec 9 (Reuters) - The dollar was little-changed
against a basket of currencies on Monday as investors awaited
fresh developments in the 17-month-long U.S.-China trade war,
while the pound crept higher on the latest polls ahead of this
week's British election.
Weak Chinese export data dented risk appetite on Monday,
while a lack of clarity on whether Washington would impose
increased U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods on Dec. 15 if the two
countries cannot agree a limited trade deal kept investors from
placing large directional bets.
The dollar index .DXY , which measures the greenback
against six other major currencies, was down 0.04% on the day.
Against the safe-haven Swiss franc, which tends to draw
investors during times of geopolitical or financial stress, the
dollar was 0.21% lower.
China's exports in November shrank for the fourth
consecutive month, underscoring persistent pressures on
manufacturers from the Sino-U.S. trade war.
A Dec. 15 deadline for the next wave of U.S. tariffs on
Chinese goods fed caution in global markets, supporting the U.S.
dollar against currencies highly sensitive to the trade war such
as the Australian and New Zealand dollars.
The Aussie fell 0.1%, while the kiwi slipped 0.14%.
Against the offshore Chinese yuan CNH=D3 , the dollar was
up 0.17%.
Top White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow said on Friday
that the Dec. 15 deadline is still in place to impose a new
round of U.S. tariffs on Chinese consumer goods, but President
Donald Trump likes where trade talks with China are going.
On Monday, China said that it hoped to make a trade deal
with the United States as soon as possible. Investors will also be watching central banks ahead of U.S.
Federal Reserve and European Central Bank policy meetings this
week, even though both are expected to leave policy unchanged.
"Unusually, perhaps, the main event risks are not the
central bank meetings due this week or key speaking
engagements," Shaun Osborne, chief FX strategist at Scotiabank
in Toronto, said in a note.
"Rather, the UK general election and the potential ramping
up of U.S. tariffs over next weekend are likely to influence
market sentiment more significantly than anything else," Osborne
said.
Sterling hit a seven-month high of $1.3180 against the
dollar before paring gains to trade up 0.07% at $1.3146 after
fresh polls showed British Prime Minister Boris Johnson's
Conservative Party has extended its lead in opinion polls before
Thursday's election. The ruling Conservative Party extended its lead over the
opposition Labour Party to 14 percentage points, up from 9 a
week ago, an opinion poll by Survation showed on Monday.
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Graphic: World FX rates in 2019 http://tmsnrt.rs/2egbfVh
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