The Mexican peso is jumping after Trump says he won’t ‘terminate’ NAFTA

Markets Insider

The Mexican peso is climbing on Thursday after the Trump administration said that, actually, it isn’t going to terminate NAFTA.

The peso is up by 1.3% at 18.9419 per dollar as of 7:36 a.m. ET.

A White House statement late Wednesday said President Donald Trump told leaders of Canada and Mexico that he will not terminate the treaty, but will aim to renegotiate it instead.

Earlier Wednesday, Politico reported that the administration is considering an executive order on withdrawing the US from NAFTA. The peso was down by about 2.0% following the report.

As for the rest of the world, here’s the scoreboard as of 7:40 a.m. ET:

• The Japanese yen is down 0.3% at 111.37 per dollar after the Bank of Japan cut its inflation forecast and kept policy on hold. The bank said it now sees inflation of 1.4% in 2017, down from its previous estimate of 1.5% and below its 2% target.
• The euro is little changed at 1.0899 against the dollar after the European Central Bank kept policy on hold. Traders will be on the lookout for clues from ECB head Mario Draghi as to when the central bank might begin tapering its asset purchase program.
• The Russian ruble is up by 0.7% at 56.7757 per dollar, while Brent crude oil, the international benchmark, is down by 1.2% at $51.77 per barrel.
• The US dollar index is little changed at 98.99 ahead of durable orders and initial claims, which will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET, and pending home sales, which is due out at 10 a.m. ET.
• The British pound is up by 0.4% at 1.2896 against the dollar.