• The dollar was buoyant against the yen on Friday as some participants bought back the currency to square positions ahead of a meeting of central bankers in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.
The U.S. currency was a shade firmer at 109.640 yen after gaining 0.5 percent overnight.
The greenback was poised to end 0.3 percent stronger against the yen on the week, during which it had slipped to as low as 108.635 yen on geopolitical tensions stemming from the Korean Peninsula.
The euro was 0.05 per cent lower at $1.1796 following a subdued overnight session, during which it was bound to a tight $1.1818-1.1784 range. It was on track to end the week with a 0.3 per cent gain.
The dollar index against a basket of six major currencies stood little changed at 93.299 after nudging up 0.15 per cent overnight on the back of a rise in U.S. Treasury yields.
• UK consumer sentiment ticked higher in August as Britons felt more secure about their security and grew more positive on the outlook for home prices, the results of a survey showed.
YouGov/Cebr's consumer confidence index rose from 107.2 in July to 107.6 this month
• Polling done by Gallup Korea has shown nearly 60 percent of South Koreans would support nuclear armament, according to Yonhap news agency. The largest support is found among residents age 60 and above.
If South Korea were to arm itself with nuclear weapons, China would likely protest and probably take the matter to the United Nations as a violation of the Non-Proliferation Treaty, of which South Korea is a signatory but not North Korea.
• The German economy grew by 0.6 percent in the second quarter of 2017, helped by private consumption and state spending, data showed on Friday.
Confirming a preliminary reading for growth, the Federal Statistics Office said consumption rose by 0.8 on the quarter and state spending 0.6 percent. Private consumption contributed 0.4 percentage points to growth.
• Japan will impose additional sanctions against North Korea following the reclusive country's repeated missile launches and unresolved abduction issue, its top government spokesman said on Friday.
• Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told reporters that Japan would freeze the assets of six more organisations and two more individuals linked to North Korea.
• Oil prices rose on Friday as the U.S. petroleum industry braced for Hurricane Harvey, which has grown into what may become the biggest storm to hit the U.S. mainland in more than a decade.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures CLc1 were at $47.83 a barrel at 0703 GMT, up 40 cents, or 0.8 percent, from their last settlement.
International Brent crude futures LCOc1 were at $52.53 per barrel, up 49 cents, or 0.9 percent, from their last close.
Reference: Reuters, CNBC
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