REFILE-LIVE MARKETS U.S.-The strong dollar: "Trump loves me, he loves me not"

(Capitalizes Trump in 2nd par. Deletes word Currency in last
par)
* Major averages mixed in early trade: Dow, S&P flat, Nasdaq
up
* Comm svcs leads S&P sector gainers; energy weakest group
* Dollar down; gold up, crude flat; U.S. 10-year yield
~0.69%

Aug 13 (Reuters) - Welcome to the home for real-time
coverage of U.S. equity markets brought to you by Reuters stocks
reporters and anchored today by Terence Gabriel. Reach him on
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terence.gabriel.tr.com@reuters.net


THE STRONG DOLLAR: "TRUMP LOVES ME, HE LOVES ME NOT" (0950
EDT/1350 GMT)
While the United States has long maintained a preference for
a strong U.S. dollar, presidents have generally steered clear of
commenting directly on the greenback for fear of being viewed as
interfering with financial markets.
President Trump has not been swayed by any such
considerations. Trump has commented often on the dollar's
relative strength or weakness against other currencies.
At times, Trump railed against the dollar's strength. At
other times, he praised its rise.
On Thursday, in an interview with the Fox Business Network,
Trump said has made the dollar strong and predicted that the
greenback would be stronger in his second term.
The U.S. dollar Index is down about 8% since the
Trump took office in January 2017.



(Saqib Ahmed)
*****


S&P 500 NEW HIGHS: JUST A WIGGLE AWAY (0842 EDT/1242 GMT)
The S&P 500 ended Wednesday just around 6-13 points,
or only about 0.2%-0.4%, shy of its 3,386.15 closing, and
3,393.52 intraday, record highs, both registered on February 19.
Thus, new all-time highs are just a wiggle away. That said,
with e-mini S&P and Dow futures around flat and
Nasdaq futures just slightly higher, it remains to be
seen on what side the momentum will really come in on. In any
event, of note, the S&P 500 equal weighted index ended
Wednesday more than 6% from its record highs.
This as markets continue to look for an end to the stalemate
in Washington over additional stimulus, and now digest the
latest jobless claims data.
Indeed, initial claims for the week ending August 8 came in
at 963k, which was below the 1.12 million Reuters poll.
Continuing claims were 15.486 million vs. the 15.898 million
estimate.
Meanwhile, on Wednesday, the Dow Transports gained
for an 11th straight day. The index last rose for 11 straight
sessions in March 2010. According to Refinitiv data going back
to 1988, the DJT has never closed up 12 straight days.


(Terence Gabriel)
*****




(Terence Gabriel is a Reuters market analyst. The views
expressed are his own)