• The dollar rebounded from a 2-1/2-year low on Wednesday, and Asian stocks took their cue from Wall Street’s stronger close, as concerns about North Korea’s firing of a missile over Japan ebbed.
The dollar index .DXY, which tracks the greenback against a basket of six major peers, edged up 0.1 percent to 92.332.
The dollar rose 0.1 percent to 109.79 yen JPY=D4. On Tuesday, after slumping to a 4-1/2-month low versus the safe haven currency, the greenback closed up0.5 percent.
• North Korea’s firing of a ballistic missile over Japan could increase pressure on Washington to consider shooting down future test launches, although there is no guarantee of success and U.S. officials are wary of a dangerous escalation with Pyongyang.
• Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and South Korean President Moon Jae-in agreed on Wednesday to seek stronger United Nations resolutions against North Korea following Pyongyang’s missile launch a day earlier, a Japanese official said.
• The United States will not allow North Korea’s lawlessness to continue and it is time for Pyongyang to recognise the “danger they are putting themselves in” as the world is united against them, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley said on Tuesday.
• Asian giants China and India have great potential for cooperation, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Wednesday, seeking to cast the neighbours’ difficult ties in a positive light ahead of a visit next week by India’s prime minister.
The two agreed this week to de-escalate a more than two-month-old stand-off on their disputed border, just in time for Sunday’s kick-off of a summit of the BRICS grouping of nations, which also includes Brazil, Russia and South Africa.
• Moody’s Investors Service kept its forecast for G20 economic growth at just over 3 percent for this year and next, but warned of geopolitical risks, U.S. protectionism and spillovers from global monetary tightening and China’s deleveraging measures.
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• Oil prices dipped on Wednesday but gasoline spiked to its highest since mid-2015 as flooding in the wake of Hurricane Harvey knocked out almost a quarter of U.S. refineries, crimping demand for crude but raising fears of fuel shortages.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures CLc1 were at $46.35 per barrel at 0644 GMT, down 9 cents from their last close. Brent crude futures LCOc1were down 6 cents, at $51.94 a barrel.
Reference: Reuters
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