FOREX-Euro dips before Lagarde speaks but hopes for tariff reprieve lend support

* Dollar neutral, index could see further losses
* Chinese yuan jumps to 12-week high vs dollar
* Graphic: World FX rates in 2019 http://tmsnrt.rs/2egbfVh

By Olga Cotaga
LONDON, Nov 4 (Reuters) - The euro edged down on Monday as
investors awaited Christine Lagarde's first speech as European
Central Bank president, but hopes that the United States may
choose not to impose tariffs on auto imports kept it near its
highest level in weeks.
Lagarde gives her first speech on Monday as ECB chief, and
markets are assuming she will stick with the easy policy script
of her predecessor, Mario Draghi. U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said in an interview
published on Sunday that Washington may not need to impose
tariffs on imported vehicles later this month after holding
"good conversations" with automakers in the European Union,
Japan and Korea.
The tariffs have already been delayed once by six months,
and trade experts say that could happen again. "That could lift the cloud over German manufacturing," said
Kenneth Broux, corporate forex strategist at Societe Generale.
"It could help to lift sentiment a lot" in the euro area, he
said, adding that he was "not convinced that we'll hear a lot of
policy direction substance" from Lagarde on Monday.
The euro was last trading down 0.15% on the day at $1.1150
but close to the $1.1180 high it reached last month. EUR=EBS
The shared currency rose as the dollar weakened on views
that the U.S. economy was starting to show signs of a slowdown,
prompting investors to expect more interest rate cuts from the
Federal Reserve.
An index that tracks the dollar against six major currencies
.DXY was last trading flat at 97.299. Broux said that having
breached a key technical level it now needs to rise above the
200-day moving average of 97.464 to avoid further losses.
The Chinese yuan rose to a 12-week high of 7.0225 against
the greenback in the offshore market as investors' risk
sentiment continued to improve. CNH=EBS
Traders were watching Sino-U.S. trade talks after both sides
said they had made progress toward a Phase-1 deal which might be
signed sometime this month. Sterling remained well bid at $1.2932 GBP=D3 , after last
month's rally from $1.2200, as investors wagered there was less
risk of a hard Brexit now that an election campaign was
underway.