Investing.com - The British pound recovered slightly on Wednesday in Asia after falling to near two-year lows in the previous session amid the increasing likelihood of a disruptive Brexit on October 31.
The GBP/USD pair inched up 0.1% to 1.2155 by 12:30 AM ET (04:30 GMT).
Incoming Prime Minister Boris Johnson reiterated earlier this week that he would not meet with other European leaders unless they first agreed to remove the contentious “Irish backstop” provisions from the Withdrawal Agreement negotiated by his predecessor, Theresa May.
Johnson also said he wants to take the U.K. out of the European Union (EU) in October regardless of whether or not there is a deal by then.
Meanwhile, EU officials continued to insist that the Withdrawal Agreement - which has been rejected three times by the U.K.'s parliament - won't be reopened.
The USD/CNY pair was little changed at 6.8812.
Negative news on the Sino-U.S. trade development were in focus.
In a tweet overnight, U.S. President Donald Trump accused China of not purchasing more U.S.-made agricultural products as promised.
Trump said on Twitter: "The problem with them waiting ... is that if & when I win, the deal that they get will be much tougher than what we are negotiating now ... or no deal at all."
The Global Times, China’s state-owned media, said the U.S. must show “sincerity” in trade talks to ease tensions between the two sides, adding that the U.S. side should hold "reasonable expectations" after making "unrealistic demands that infringe upon China's sovereignty and dignity".
“If Washington still holds the illusion that Beijing will somehow cave in and compromise on issues concerning sovereignty and other related core interests to reach a deal, then no deal is fine,” the article said.
On the data front, China’s manufacturing PMI in July came in at 49.7, higher than the forecasted 49.6 and June’s 49.4. The non-manufacturing PMI for the month was at 53.7, lower than the expected 54.0 and last month’s 54.2.
The safe-haven yen was also near flat despite falling stock markets in Asia today. The USD/JPY pair last traded at 108.56, down 0.02%.
The U.S. Dollar Index that tracks the greenback against a basket of other currencies was unchanged at 97.817.
The AUD/USD pair rose 0.3%, while the NZD/USD pair fell 0.2%.