Early on Thursday, the US dollar continues to trade bullish boosted by stronger than expected economic data from the US. At the time of writing, the US dollar index DXY is trading at around 98.35.

On Wednesday, following the release of optimistic GDP figures for Q3 2019 and core durable goods orders for October, the US dollar soared towards 98.45 against its major peers. US Q3 GDP beat expectations, coming in at 2.1% vs. estimate of 1.9%. Core durable goods orders posted a surprising increase of 0.6% in October, against a 0.5% decline expected and -1.2% in September.

However, the US dollar has weakened slightly since then as trade tensions return to the spotlight after Trump signed two key bills on Hong Kong into law. The law empowers the US to impose sanctions on Chinese and Hong Kong officials deemed responsible for violating human rights of the protesters.

Even as trade negotiations progress towards achieving a phase one trade deal, this latest move by Trump is sure to sour the sentiment and China has already stated that it will retaliate against the US’s latest move.