The U.S. dollar held steady and the Japanese yen clawed back some ground on Tuesday morning in Asia with markets subdued by the holiday break.
Currencies have been influenced by contradictory developments, as the trade tension between the U.S. and China appears to have subsided but China has stepped up criticism that the U.S. is interfering in Hong Kong, Taiwan and other matters it considers internal.
The U.S. dollar index was marginally higher, up 0.01% to 97.67 by 8:30 PM ET (01:30 GMT) on Tuesday.
The People’s Bank of China set the reference rate of the yuan at 7.0119, compared to 7.0117 on Monday.
The USD/JPY pair gained 0.02% to 109.42. Rates in Japan, which have been negative for most of the year, are now just above 0% but the Bank of Japan said last week that they are likely to remain low.
The AUD/USD pair was down 0.04% to 0.6918.
The NZD/USD pair gained 0.04% to 0.6632.
The GBP/USD pair gained 0.07% to 1.2942. The pound gave up as much as 0.5% on Monday coming off its worst week in two years driven by Brexit-related fears.
Markets in Hong Kong and Australia close early on Tuesday and are closed on Wednesday for the Christmas holiday.
