Stocks & Commodities Related News.

US STOCKS-Wall St set to open higher on strong Netflix, Goldman earnings - Reuters News

17-Apr-2018 09:11:57 PM

• Goldman Sachs Q1 profit boosted by trading revenue
• Surge in subscription helps Netflix results
• Futures up: Dow 0.61 pct, S&P 0.51 pct, Nasdaq 0.51 pct

Adds comments, details, updates prices

By Sruthi Shankar

April 17 (Reuters) - Wall Street was on track to open higher on Tuesday as strong earnings from Netflix, Goldman Sachs and health majors boosted optimism over what is expected to be the strongest earnings season in seven years.

Netflix shares surged 6.5 percent premarket after the video-streaming pioneer smashed analysts' quarterly subscriber estimates, helped by a blitz of original content.

The stock, the best performer on the S&P 500 this year, was the top gainer among S&P and Nasdaq 100 components in premarket trading.

Goldman Sachs rose 0.85 percent after the investment bank's quarterly profit blew past Wall Street's expectations, powered by a surge in trading revenue and higher fees from debt and equity underwriting.

The other big banks' shares also gained, with Morgan Stanley, set to report on Wednesday, leading with a 1.5 percent increase.

"The reports were pretty good and should help the overall market," said Robert Pavlik, chief investment strategist at SlateStone Wealth in New York.

"As you go forward, financials seem to be one of the logical places to be invested in, especially in a rising interest rate environment. It's the matter of markets finally having attention drawn away from the political (news)."

Analysts expect profit at the S&P 500 companies to rise 18.6 percent in the first quarter, the biggest increase in seven years, according to Thomson Reuters data.

At 8:31 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis were up 216 points, or 0.88 percent, S&P 500 e-minis were up 16.25 points, or 0.61 percent and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were up 42.5 points, or 0.63 percent.

UnitedHealth rose 2.3 percent after the largest U.S. health insurer raised its earnings forecast and posted results that beat Wall Street estimates.

J&J rose 0.75 percent after reporting a better-than-expected profit and raising its full-year sales forecast, helped by growing demand for its cancer drugs.

The earnings season has helped take away some focus from geopolitical and trade concerns, which have roiled the markets in the recent months.

Still, U.S.-China trade issues continue to simmer. China moved to slap a hefty temporary deposit on imports of U.S. sorghum in a preliminary antidumping ruling.

Shares of Archer Daniel, a top seller of U.S. sorghum into China, was down 0.9 percent.

A U.S.-led attack on Syria over the weekend has so far not prompted any military retaliation from Russia, easing fears over the conflict escalating.

(Reporting by Sruthi Shankar in Bengaluru; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta)

 

 

 

UPDATE 4-Oil supported as investors factor in supply risks - Reuters News

17-Apr-2018 07:53:00 PM

• Risk of supply disruptions seen from Iran to Venezuela
• Syria conflict has also helped push up prices
• Supply risks come amid OPEC-led production cuts
• Rising U.S. output is main factor holding crude back

Updates prices

By Amanda Cooper

LONDON, April 17 (Reuters) - Oil edged up on Tuesday, supported by investors' growing concern over the potential disruptions to crude supply, especially in the Middle East.

Brent crude oil futures were up 4 cents at $71.46 a barrel by 1145 GMT, while U.S. crude futures edged up 8 cents to $66.30 a barrel.

Traders said oil markets were receiving general support due to the risk of supply interruptions, including a potentially spreading conflict in the Middle East, renewed U.S. sanctions against Iran and falling output in crisis-hit Venezuela.

"With so many potential supply disruptors in play and few signs that the current market upheaval will end any time soon, traders continue to pay the geopolitical risk premium," said Stephen Innes, head of trading for Asia-Pacific at futures brokerage OANDA in Singapore.

"Oil prices should remain bid ... at least through the Iran nuclear deal deadline (May 12) if not for the remainder of 2018," he added.

U.S. President Donald Trump has threatened to pull out of a nuclear deal between Iran and six major powers by May 12 unless Congress and European allies help "fix" it with a follow-up agreement.

If Washington does not renew sanctions relief for Tehran at this point, Iran may have difficulty exporting its crude.

Oil markets have been well supported this year, with Brent up around 16 percent from its 2018 low in February, due to healthy demand and supply cuts led by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries.

U.S. OUTPUT SOARS

Another main market driver has been the United States, where crude production has soared by almost a quarter since mid-2016, largely thanks to a booming shale industry.

The physical markets, particularly in the Atlantic Basin, are suffering from seasonal weakness that has pulled some grades to multi-month lows.

"We've got geopolitics on the one hand, which is bullish, but I don't think fundamentals are quite as convincing as people would like to believe," PVM Oil Associates strategist Tamas Varga said.

"I'm not saying oil won't run higher based on the situation in Syria, but I don't think this rally on geopolitics can be sustained unless it results in actual supply disruption."

U.S. shale oil production is expected to increase in May for the fourth consecutive month, U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) data showed on Monday.

The American Petroleum Institute publishes weekly U.S. fuel inventory data later on Tuesday, while official government data, including on production, is due from the EIA on Wednesday.

(Additional reporting by Henning Gloystein in Singapore Editing by Dale Hudson/David Evans)

 

 

 

UPDATE 2-U.S. shale output to rise by 125,000 bpd in May -EIA - Reuters News

17-Apr-2018 02:45:41 AM

Adds natural gas data

NEW YORK, April 16 (Reuters) - U.S. shale oil production is expected to increase in May for the fourth consecutive month, U.S. Energy Information Administration data showed on Monday, boosted by record production in the prolific Permian Basin of West Texas and New Mexico.

Total oil output is set to rise by 125,000 barrels per day (bpd) to 7 million bpd, the EIA said in its monthly drilling productivity report.

Production in the Permian Basin is expected to jump by 73,000 bpd to 3.2 million bpd, the largest according to records dating back to 2007.

The expanding production there has led to bottlenecks as pipelines transporting the crude have filled more quickly than expected.

Bakken output is expected to rise by 15,000 bpd to 1.2 million bpd, the highest since July 2015. In the Eagle Ford shale fields, production is set to rise by 24,000 bpd to 1.3 million bpd, the most since May 2016.

Meanwhile, U.S. natural gas production was projected to increase to a record 66.9 billion cubic feet per day (bcfd) in May, the highest on record. That would be up more than 1 bcfd over the April forecast.

Output in the Appalachia region, the biggest shale gas play, was set to rise by almost 0.4 bcfd to a record high of 27.7 bcfd in May.

(Reporting by Catherine Ngai; editing by Lisa Shumaker and Cynthia Osterman)

 

 

 

REFILE-U.S. Natgas futures little changed despite lingering heating demand - Reuters News

17-Apr-2018 09:05:38 PM

Corrects typo in headline

April 17 (Reuters) - U.S. natural gas futures traded within a few cents of unchanged on Tuesday as forecasts for a slight increase in heating demand over the next two weeks offset continued near record output.

Traders said the rise in heating demand this week could cause utilities to pull gas out of storage for a third week in April for the first time ever, according to federal energy data going back to 1994. Energy companies, which usually start injecting gas into inventories in April, last withdrew gas from stockpiles for two weeks in April in 2003.

After hitting a month high on Monday, front-month gas futures on Tuesday slipped 1.1 cents, or 0.4 percent, to $2.741 per million British thermal units at 8:47 a.m. EDT (1247 GMT). On Monday, the contract settled at its highest since March 13.

Thomson Reuters analysts on Tuesday projected average gas demand in the lower 48 U.S. states would slide to 81.4 billion cubic feet per day next week from 88.0 bcfd this week as the weather warms.

That, however, is up from Monday's forecasts for demand to average 80.6 bcfd next week and 86.5 bcfd this week.

Included in the consumption outlook are U.S. exports to Mexico and Canada by pipeline and the rest of the world as liquefied natural gas. U.S. sales abroad were expected to average 11.0 bcfd this week, up about 43 percent from the same week a year ago.

Production in the lower 48 states continued to average a record high 78.7 bcfd over the past 30 days even though daily output eased to around 78.3 bcfd on Monday from a daily all-time high of 79.3 on April 9, according to Thomson Reuters data.

Analysts said utilities likely pulled 19 billion cubic feet of gas from storage during the cooler than normal week ended April 13, extending the usual winter heating withdrawal season by a couple of weeks through at least the middle of April.

That compares with an increase of 47 bcf during the same week last year and a five-year average build of 38 bcf for that period.

If correct, the drawdown would cut total stockpiles to 1.316 trillion cubic feet, 24.7 percent below the five-year average of 1.748 tcf for this time of year and the lowest for that week since 2014.

 

	Week ended April 13(Forecast)	Week ended April 6 (Actual)	Year ago April 13	Five-year average April 13
U.S. natgas storage (bcf):	-19	-19	47	38
Thomson Reuters Supply Chain & Commodities Research (SC&CR)
Heating & Cooling Degree Days
Two-Week Total Forecast	Current Day	Prior Day	Prior Year	10-Year Norm	30-Year Norm
U.S. GFS HDDs	177	179	103	132	137
U.S. GFS CDDs	25	24	54	41	34
U.S. Weekly GFS Supply and Demand Forecasts
	Prior Week	Current Week	Next Week	This Week Last Year	Five-Year Average For Month
U.S. Supply (bcfd)
U.S. Lower 48 Dry Production	78.8	78.1	78.7	70.9	69.0
U.S. Imports from Canada	8.5	8.8	9.0	8.0	7.6
U.S. LNG Imports	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.1
Total U.S. Supply	87.3	86.9	87.7	78.9	76.7
U.S. Demand (bcfd)
U.S. Exports to Canada	2.5	3.2	3.2	2.5	2.1
U.S. Exports to Mexico	3.4	4.0	4.0	2.8	2.6
U.S. LNG Exports	3.1	3.8	3.9	2.4	0.4
U.S. Commercial	11.2	10.4	8.6	6.0	7.9
U.S. Residential	17.1	15.7	12.1	6.9	11.0
U.S. Power Plant	22.8	22.7	22.2	20.8	20.8
U.S. Industrial	22.5	22.3	21.6	20.0	20.5
U.S. Plant Fuel	3.9	3.9	3.9	3.9	3.9
U.S. Pipe Distribution	2.0	1.9	1.7	1.9	2.0
U.S. Vehicle Fuel	0.1	0.1	0.1	0.1	0.1
Total U.S. Consumption	79.6	77.0	70.3	59.6	66.2
Total U.S. Demand	88.6	88.0	81.4	67.3	71.3
SNL U.S. Natural Gas Next-Day Prices ($ per mmBtu)
Hub	Current Day	Prior Day
Henry Hub NG-W-HH-SNL	2.88	2.82
Transco Z6 New York NG-CG-NY-SNL	2.99	2.81
Dominion South NG-PCN-APP-SNL	2.51	2.33
Chicago Citygate NG-CG-CH-SNL	3.63	2.83
Algonquin Citygate NG-CG-BS-SNL	6.77	2.39
SoCal Citygate NG-SCL-CGT-SNL	4.05	3.50
ICE U.S. Power Next-Day Prices ($ per megawatt-hour)
Hub	Current Day	Prior Day
Ercot North SE-ERCONP-IDX	28.00
Mid C W-MIDCP-IDX	14.43	17.03
New England E-NEPLMHP-IDX	61.51	29.97
Palo Verde W-PVP-IDX	21.63	19.90
PJM West E-PJWHRTP-IX	48.88	30.31
SP-15 W-SP15-IDX	33.52	26.07

 

 

 

	Week ended April 13(Forecast)	Week ended April 6 (Actual)	Year ago April 13	Five-year average April 13
U.S. natgas storage (bcf):	-19	-19	47	38
Thomson Reuters Supply Chain & Commodities Research (SC&CR)
Heating & Cooling Degree Days
Two-Week Total Forecast	Current Day	Prior Day	Prior Year	10-Year Norm	30-Year Norm
U.S. GFS HDDs	177	166	107	172	152
U.S. GFS CDDs	27	29	45	32	30
U.S. Weekly GFS Supply and Demand Forecasts
	Prior Week	Current Week	Next Week	This Week Last Year	Five-Year Average For Month
U.S. Supply (bcfd)
U.S. Lower 48 Dry Production	78.8	78.9	78.3	71.0	69.0
U.S. Imports from Canada	8.5	8.8	8.7	8.2	7.6
U.S. LNG Imports	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.1	0.1
Total U.S. Supply	87.3	87.8	86.9	79.3	76.7
U.S. Demand (bcfd)
U.S. Exports to Canada	2.5	2.8	2.9	2.5	2.1
U.S. Exports to Mexico	3.4	4.0	4.0	3.6	2.6
U.S. LNG Exports	3.1	3.4	3.9	0.6	0.4
U.S. Commercial	11.2	11.0	9.1	6.7	7.9
U.S. Residential	17.1	16.7	13.2	8.5	11.0
U.S. Power Plant	22.8	24.3	22.0	20.2	20.8
U.S. Industrial	22.5	22.5	21.8	20.4	20.5
U.S. Plant Fuel	3.9	3.9	3.9	3.9	3.9
U.S. Pipe Distribution	2.0	2.0	1.8	2.0	2.0
U.S. Vehicle Fuel	0.1	0.1	0.1	0.1	0.1
Total U.S. Consumption	79.6	80.4	71.9	61.8	66.2
Total U.S. Demand	88.6	90.6	82.6	69.8	71.3
SNL U.S. Natural Gas Next-Day Prices ($ per mmBtu)
Hub	Current Day	Prior Day
Henry Hub NG-W-HH-SNL	2.76	2.74
Transco Z6 New York NG-CG-NY-SNL	3.05	2.80
Dominion South NG-PCN-APP-SNL	2.07	1.99
Chicago Citygate NG-CG-CH-SNL	2.51	2.56
Algonquin Citygate NG-CG-BS-SNL	3.05	4.50
SoCal Citygate NG-SCL-CGT-SNL	3.25	3.20
ICE U.S. Power Next-Day Prices ($ per megawatt-hour)
Hub	Current Day	Prior Day
Ercot North SE-ERCONP-IDX		24.60
Mid C W-MIDCP-IDX	17.03	14.99
New England E-NEPLMHP-IDX	29.97	40.78
Palo Verde W-PVP-IDX	19.90	22.47
PJM West E-PJWHRTP-IX	30.31	32.15
SP-15 W-SP15-IDX	26.07	26.45

 

(Reporting by Scott DiSavino; Editing by Steve Orlofsky)

 

 

 

PRECIOUS-Gold dips as sharper risk appetite lifts equities - Reuters News

17-Apr-2018 07:24:41 PM

• Shares advance as risk appetite revives
• Palladium drops from 1-1/2 month highs

 (Updates prices, adds LONDON dateline)

By Jan Harvey

LONDON, April 17 (Reuters) - Gold fell on Tuesday as sharper appetite for risk benefited cyclical assets at bullion's expense, though losses were capped by the dollar's slip to three-week low against a basket of currencies.

Gold rallied to a 2-1/2 month high last week as heightened tensions over Syria and U.S. sanctions on Russia sparked a drop in equities and ratcheted up interest in nominally defensive assets. Those gains, however, have proved hard to maintain.

Spot gold was down 0.3 percent at $1,342.77 an ounce at 1120 GMT, while U.S. gold futures were down 0.5 percent at $1,344.40.

"All this noise we've been witnessing as of late, whether it is trade disputes or Syria, has not really moved gold on a sustainable basis," said Julius Baer analyst Carsten Menke.

"The story would be different if these disputes prevailed and we got a significant slowdown in leading indicators. But it doesn't seem to me that anybody is really afraid of a material deterioration in the economic backdrop."

A gradual return of risk appetite lifted world shares on Tuesday, with European stocks climbing 0.4 percent to erase the previous session's losses.

The U.S. yield curve reached its flattest in more than a decade on Monday after the White House said that U.S. President Trump would nominate Richard Clarida as Federal Reserve Vice Chairman, another hawkish voice at the central bank.

A flatter yield curve typically indicates that the Fed is planning to lift interest rates in the near term and is often understood to signal concern over the macroeconomic outlook. Higher rates tend to weigh on non-yielding bullion.

The euro hit a three-week high on Tuesday as solid Chinese economic data and receding fears of more U.S. strikes in Syria revived risk sentiment, weakening the dollar.

On Monday Trump also accused Russia and China of devaluing their currencies while the United States raises interest rates.

Among other precious metals, silver was up 0.1 percent at $16.62 an ounce, while platinum was 0.1 percent higher at $924.90.

Palladium was down 1.6 percent at $985.97 an ounce after hitting its strongest since March 1 the day before at $1,012.10 an ounce.

It rallied nearly 10 percent last week, the biggest weekly gain since January 2017, on fears that U.S. sanctions on Russia could hurt supply of the autocatalyst metal.

"Palladium has gained by $100, or 11 percent, since the U.S. sanctions were announced on April 6," Commerzbank said in a note.

(Reporting by Jan Harvey; additional reporting by Swati Verma in Bengaluru; editing by David Goodman and Jason Neely)

 

 

 

CBOT Trends-Wheat up 3-5 cents; soy up 1-4 cents; corn steady-up 1 cent - Reuters News

17-Apr-2018 09:00:59 PM

CHICAGO, April 17 (Reuters) - Following are U.S. trade expectations for the resumption of the grain and soy complex trading at the Chicago Board of Trade at 8:30 a.m. CDT (1330 GMT) on Tuesday.

 

WHEAT - Up 3 to 5 cents per bushel

• Technical buying, short-covering supporting wheat futures following drop to 10-day low on Monday. Concerns about condition of U.S. winter wheat crop underpin prices. Support for CBOT May soft red winter wheat futures noted overnight near the 61.8 percent retracement point on a Fibonacci chart tracking recent rally.
• U.S. Agriculture Department report showed 31 percent of U.S. winter wheat crop rated good to excellent as of April 15, up 1 percentage point from week earlier. A year ago, the crop was rated 54 percent good to excellent.
• CBOT May soft red winter wheat last traded up 3-1/2 cents at $4.65-3/4 per bushel. K.C. May hard red winter wheat was last up 4-1/2 cents at $4.82-1/2 and MGEX May spring wheat  was last up 5-3/4 cents at $6.12-1/2.

CORN - Steady to up 1 cent per bushel

• Concerns about slow start to planting underpin corn prices but technical resistance noted overnight at 30-day moving average, limiting buying opportunities.
• U.S. Agriculture Department report said U.S. corn planting was 3 percent complete as of April 15, up just 1 percentage point from a week earlier.
• CBOT May corn last traded up 1/2 cent at $3.83 a bushel.

SOYBEANS - Up 1 to 4 cents per bushel

• Mild round of bargain buying expected following two days of declines. Technical support for CBOT May soybean futures contract noted overnight at Monday's low of $10.41-1/2 a bushel.
• Fresh signs of trade friction with China expected to limit gains. China said on Tuesday it will slap a hefty temporary deposit on imports of U.S. sorghum.
• CBOT May soybeans last traded up 2 cents at $10.44 per bushel.

(Reporting by Mark Weinraub; Editing by Bernadette Baum)

 

 

 

China tariffs spark shake-up of global soybean trade flows - Reuters News

17-Apr-2018 07:43:36 PM

• Tariff threat boosts premiums for South American soybeans
• European buyers already switching some sales to U.S.
• U.S. soy may enter China via Argentine crushing plants
•  

By Nigel Hunt

LONDON, April 17 (Reuters) - Top soybean buyer China could not only end up paying more for the oilseed if it imposes tariffs on U.S. imports but may also create new buyers for American supplies as the move shakes up global trade flows.

China's voracious appetite for the bean outstrips forecast global exports, excluding the United States, so trade flows may emerge with crops from the fields of Illinois and Iowa possibly set for a detour via crushing plants in South America.

The proposal by China for a 25 percent tariff, part of its response to U.S. plans to impose tariffs on a range of Chinese products, has already driven up prices in alternative suppliers Brazil and Argentina.

The dispute is the latest of a series of trade battles since Donald Trump became U.S. President in January 2017, which are already taking a toll on the country's farm sector.

Mexican buyers boosted purchases of corn from Brazil after Trump threatened to tear up the North American Free Trade Agreement, while his decision not to join the Trans-Pacific Partnership threatens U.S. wheat sales to Japan.

"The whole mess of the trade war between the United States and China made internal prices rise here," said Ezequiel de Freijo, chief economist at the Sociedad Rural in Argentina.

Argentina has already bought 240,000 tonnes of soybeans from the United States, its largest purchase in 20 years, with sales registered for the 2018/19 marketing year which begin in September.

De Freijo said large premiums for South American soybeans could create a "triangulation" with Argentine crushers buying from the United States and then sending their products to China.

 

EUROPEANS SWITCH

The rising cost of South American soybeans has also improved the competitiveness of U.S. supplies in other markets such as the European Union, the world's number two importer.

"If China sweeps South America clean of soybeans, other big importers like the EU, Mexico, Japan, Taiwan, Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam and Egypt will have to find new supplies," one European soybean trader said.

"I think the answer is the U.S. I think a lot of buyers will be knocking on the doors of U.S. soybean exporters in the coming months if the trade war really gets going."

The rising premiums for South American soybeans is already beginning to shift trade flows.

"We're already seeing the EU switch from Brazil (to the U.S.) because their prices have taken off," said one U.S. soybean trader.

Prices for both soybeans and soymeal in China have also risen sharply.

"The Chinese are going to stay with Brazilian beans because they don't know if they'll be paying that 25 percent more," said Jack Scoville, analyst with Price Futures Group.

"And the Brazilians are grabbing a large part of that tax increase in their prices and still offering beans at a discount (to U.S.) if the taxes are put in. It's a great deal for them."

China is forecast to import a record 97 million tonnes of soybeans in 2017/18, with the meal used to feed its livestock including the world's largest pig herd.

 

BRAZIL TOP SUPPLIER

Brazil is China's top supplier with 53 percent of total purchases in 2017 followed by the United States at 34 percent and Argentina with seven percent, according to customs data.

"Brazil has no means to replace the entire supply of soybeans from the U.S. going to China," said Fabio Trigueirinho, executive director of Abiove, the oilseed crushers association.

"While Brazil is likely to increase soybean exports to China (if the tariffs are imposed), U.S. suppliers can take advantage in markets where Brazil's share of exports will drop."

There is also be a reluctance in Brazil to boost shipments to a country which already takes 70 percent of its exports.

"As producers we cannot depend on only one buyer. Suppose Brazil sells soybeans to 15 countries and decides to re-route to China. That is not the right strategy," said Jose Sismeiro, a soybean and corn grower in the state of Parana.

"What happens if the U.S. and China make amends? I think we should keep our client base as wide as possible."

Other smaller exporters such as Ukraine may boost sales to China with the right price signal but cannot replace the volumes currently being shipped by the United States.

"Potentially Chinese buyers can more actively buy in Ukraine - theoretically up to 500,000 tonnes per season - but only if the price is attractive to sellers," said Yulia Garkavenko of UkrAgroConsult consultancy.

Ukraine shipped a modest 20,000 tonnes to China in 2016/17.

U.S. farmers meanwhile will soon begin planting this year's soybean crop and appear largely unperturbed by the posturing.

The tariff threat caused a short-lived slide in Chicago soybean futures but prices quickly rebounded and set a five-week high on Friday.

"The (U.S.) President said he was not going to let ag be a casualty of this trade war," said Ohio farmer Jim Hefner who plans to plant more soybeans this year.

"He did not promise there would be no pain but I would like to take him at his word and hope for the best."

(Additional reporting by Mark Weinraub, Karl Plume, Ana Mano, Roberto Samora, Luc Cohen, Maximilian Heath, Michael Hogan and Pavel Polityuk; Editing by Veronica Brown and David Evans)

 

 

 

FOREX-Euro climbs above $1.24 to three-week high - Reuters News

17-Apr-2018 06:52:22 PM

• Euro edges past $1.24 level as risk sentiment rebounds
• Swiss franc falls to lowest since Jan 2015
• Yen gains on broad-based dollar weakness
• Sterling hits fresh post-Brexit vote high

By Tommy Wilkes

LONDON, April 17 (Reuters) - The euro rose above $1.24 to a three-week high on Tuesday after solid Chinese economic data and receding worries about more U.S. strikes in Syria revived risk sentiment, although a monthly survey of German investor sentiment undercut the optimism.

With peripheral bond yields falling to multi-week highs, investors resumed buying the euro, nearly pulling it out of a narrow trading range in which it has been trapped for weeks.

Holding above $1.24 should encourage euro bulls again after a rally earlier this year faltered.

U.S. President Donald Trump's comments about China and Russia trying to devalue their currencies this week also weighed on the dollar, with investors believing that the U.S. administration wants to see a weaker currency.

That helped the euro rally 0.3 percent to $1.2412, its highest since March 28, before it retreated after a monthly survey showed morale among German investors was deteriorating.

"There's been a general weakness in the dollar and risk sentiment seems to be reviving somewhat. That is supporting the euro but also sterling and Asian currencies," said Alvin Tan, FX Strategist at Societe Generale."

While the dollar was flat against a basket of major currencies, it held near a two-week low tested earlier in the Asian session.

Several Asian currencies, including the Korean Won, rose on hopes that U.S.-China trade conflict would calm down.

Elsewhere, the Swiss franc fell to its lowest versus the euro since the Swiss National Bank scrapped its currency peg in January 2015. Sterling reached a new post-Brexit referendum high.

The franc, which analysts expect to fall further as the Swiss central bank sticks to its loose monetary policy even as rivals tighten, slipped 0.2 percent on the day to 1.1905.

TALKING DOWN THE DOLLAR?

Against the yen, the dollar fell to 107.06 yen, off the seven-week high of 107.78 yen it touched on Friday, before a meeting between Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Tokyo is eager to avoid being pushed into talks on a two-way free-trade agreement aimed not only at market access but at monetary and currency policies.

Traders suspect Washington will put pressure on Japan after the U.S. Treasury's semi-annual currency report on Friday kept Japan on a monitoring list for possible manipulation.

Trump accused Russia and China on Monday of devaluing their currencies, even though the yuan has been strengthening and U.S. sanctions have been blamed for rouble's decline.

"How grounded the comment is in fact is much less important than the fact that he said it. It also suggests that President Trump could attempt to 'talk down the dollar' to shrink the US import bill. This will undoubtedly reinforce the appetite for investors to hedge their dollar exposures given the unpredictability and uncertainty over dollar policy going forward," MUFG analysts said in a note.

China's economy grew 6.8 percent in the first quarter of 2018 from a year earlier, data showed on Tuesday, above expectations and unchanged from the previous quarter.

(Additional reporting by Hideyuki Sano in TOKYO
Editing by Larry King