FX round-up: US president says China, Europe manipulating their currencies

In a wide ranging interview with Reuters overnight, Donald Trump also issued some veiled criticism of the Federal Reserve, saying he was not "thrilled" with the US central bank under Chairman Jerome Powell.

Reacting to his remarks, the US dollar spot index was down by 0.34% to 95.5710, albeit off an intra-session low of 95.4400.

Against that backdrop, Sterling was edging up 0.24% to 1.28277

The pound was also higher versus the euro, despite a separate report from Reuters, citing "some diplomats", according to whom a deal between Westminster and Brussels might not be reached before December.

A senior diplomat from the European Union told the newswire: "There is definitely going to be a real push for October and we’ll probably not be able to quite get there. So, while it has not formally been confirmed as yet, an extra summit in November looks most likely."

The Greenback was also down versus the single currency, with euro/dollar edging higher by 0.18% to 1.15028, and the yuan, dipping 0.11% against the Chinese unit.

Its retreat against the yuan came ahead of two days of talks between Chinese and US negotiators in Washington D.C..

Yet the dollar was higher against most Emerging Market currencies, with President Trump having dedicated part of his interview with Reuters to Ankara.

"I think they're making a terrible mistake. There will be no concessions," Trump said.

But the biggest moves in the EM space were in fact being seen in the Russian rouble, amid reports that Britain will call for additional sanctions from the EU against Moscow, even as fresh US sanction from Washington were set to kick into effect on the next day.

The US dollar was tacking on 0.33% to 6.1016 versus the Turkish lira and 0.78% to 67.4926 against the Russian rouble.

It was also up by 0.56% to 298675 against the Argentine peso, but off by 0.19% to 18.9728 against the Mexican peso.