In overnight trade prior to these remarks, China's yuan had fallen to an 11-year low in the onshore market and a record low offshore and the US dollar fell to a 2-1/2 year low against the Japanese yen. The currency market had been reacting to Trump's announcement on Friday of an additional 5% duty on $550 billion in targeted Chinese goods, hours after Beijing unveiled retaliatory tariffs on $75 billion worth of US products, sending stocks into a tailspin and investors rushing for the safety of bond markets.
Trump on Monday sought to limit the fallout and smooth tensions, helping the yuan come off its lows. The dollar index recovered, last up 0.33% at 97.965. In China's onshore market, the yuan fell to 7.1540 per dollar, the lowest since February 2008. In the offshore market, the yuan slid to as low as 7.1858 yuan, the weakest since international trading in the currency began in 2010, before recovering to 7.1635 yuan - down 0.43% on the day - after Trump's upbeat comments. In a sign that some calm had returned to markets, the Japanese yen - which investors regard as a safe-haven - fell 0.57% to 105.99, having earlier hit a 2-1/2-year high of 104.44.