The U.S. dollar fell on Monday after CNBC reported that Chinese officials are pessimistic that a trade deal will be signed.

The report, which cited government sources, said the bleak outlook was due to U.S. President Donald Trump’s reluctance to roll back tariffs. China has been pushing for the two sides to remove tariffs as they work on a phase one trade deal. Trump has said that he has not agreed to end tariffs, causing uncertainty on whether or not there will be a deal. Since then, both sides have said they are making progress but have not given any details on the outcome of talks.

The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a basket of six major currencies, fell 0.2% to 97.700 as of 10:25 AM ET (15:25 GMT).

The safe-haven Japanese yen was higher with USD/JPY down 0.1% to 108.59.

Elsewhere, sterling was steady, after rising 0.4% earlier in the session on news that all Conservative Party candidates at the Dec. 12 election have pledged to back Prime Minister Boris Johson’s Brexit deal. Opinion polls suggest that the Conservatives will win the election.

GBP/USD rose 0.4% to 1.2953 while EUR/USD was up 0.2% to 1.1068.

Source : Investing.com