The Mexican peso slides off its highs after Trump said construction of border wall will begin ‘in months’

The Mexican peso has back-peddled on some of its earlier gains.

The Mexican peso is up by 0.9% at 21.3318 per dollar as of 12:44 p.m. ET.

It was up by 1.1% at 21.2929 per dollar around 11:48 a.m. ET.

On Wednesday, President Donald Trump told ABC News that the construction of the border wall between the US and Mexico would begin in “months.”

On Tuesday, Mexico’s Economy Minister Ildefonso Guajardo told the Televisa network, “There are very clear red lines that must be drawn from the start” as he prepared to meet with US officials in Washington on Wednesday and Thursday.

Asked whether the Mexican delegation would walk away from the negotiating table if the wall and remittances are an issue, Guajardo said: "Absolutely."

President Donald Trump wants to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) with Mexico and Canada.

On Tuesday evening, the president tweeted "Big day planned on NATIONAL SECURITY tomorrow. Among many other things, we will build the wall!"

As for the rest of the world, here's the scoreboard as of 7:47 a.m. ET:

The US dollar index is down by 0.3% at 99.97. "Participants appear to be growingincreasinglyfrustrated with emerging priorities of the new US Administration," Marc Chandler, the global head of currency strategy, wrote. "They want to hear more details and discussion of the tax reform, deregulation, and infrastructure plans. However, the priority today is on authorizing the construction of a wall between the US and Mexico and possible action on immigration from "terror-prone" countries, according to press reports."The British pound is up by 0.5% at 1.2588 against the dollar. The currency is at its best level since mid-December. Still, a group of analysts at UBS argue that the pound's recent mini-rally will be short lived. "Our strategists are pricing in more weakness to come. Again, we've gone a long way, and yet the uncertainty that the Article 50 procedure is likely to bring further weakness," UBS Investment Bank's Chief European Economist Reinhard Cluse said.The euro is up by 0.2% at 1.0753 against the dollar. Earlier, the German Ifo Business Climate index came in at 109.8 in January, below expectations of 111.3, and below the prior month's reading of 111.0.The Russian ruble is little changed at 59.2213 per dollar, while Brent crude oil, the international benchmark, is down by 1% at $54.88 per barrel.