FX.co ★ Trump puts pressure on China again

The euro made an attempt to grow against the US dollar in the morning after the release of good inflation data in Germany. However, more risky assets were not received by major players, which led to the resumption of the downward trend.

According to the report of the statistics agency, the consumer price index in March this year increased by 0.4% compared to February, which fully coincided with the forecasts of economists. Compared to the same period in 2017, the index increased by 1.6%. The harmonized consumer price index in Germany in March 2018 rose to 1.5% after rising by 1.2% in February. Despite good performance, inflation in Germany still falls short of the ECB's target level of just under 2%. The basic inflation in Germany in March was 1.6%.

In Spain, annual inflation in March also remained unchanged, and it fully coincided with the forecasts of economists, who expected growth of 1.2%.

Also in the first half of the day, data was released that clearly only fuelled the "appetite" of the White House regarding the imposition of trade duties on a number of EU countries.

According to the report of the statistics agency, the positive balance of foreign trade of the euro area in February this year has grown significantly due to the reduction of imports.

Therefore, in February, in comparison with January, exports of goods from the euro area decreased by 2.3%, while imports decreased by 3.1%. The positive balance of foreign trade in the euro area in February rose to 21.0 billion euros from 20.2 billion euros in January. Without correction, the positive balance in February was 18.9 billion euros compared to 16.1 billion euros a year earlier.

Returning to the topic of trade tariffs, on Friday it became known that the administration of the President of the United States Donald Trump, in spite of all statements of the Chinese authorities, plans to increase its pressure on China through new fees. There were also rumors that the US could block investment by China in the development of technology in the US.

Another unpleasant news for China was Donald Trump's assignment to his assistants to consider the option of joining the Trans-Pacific partnership, which is extremely undesirable for the PRC, since China is not part of the trade union.

In the second half of the day, data was released which indicated a drop in consumer confidence in the US. The main reason for the decline in the index was concerns related to the trade policy of Donald Trump. According to the report of the University of Michigan, the preliminary index of consumer sentiment in April 2018 dropped to 97.8 points from 101.4 points in March. Economists had expected that the index would drop to the level of 100 points.