· The dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of six major rivals, was last down 0.2 percent at 92.690 and was set for a sixth straight monthly decline in August. The dollar was also down 0.3 percent against the safe-haven yen at 109.93 yen, off a 15-day high of 110.66 touched earlier in the session.
The euro, which has risen more than 13 percent against the dollar this year and was set to notch its sixth straight monthly gain for August of about 0.5 percent, last traded up 0.2 percent at $1.19. That was not far from a more than 2-1/2-year high struck Tuesday of $1.2069.
· U.S. consumer spending rose slightly less than expected in July and annual inflation advanced at its slowest pace in more than 1-1/2 years, diminishing expectations of an interest rate increase in December.
Inflation remains stubbornly low even as the labor market is near full employment, a conundrum for the Federal Reserve. Other data on Thursday showed a small increase in new applications for unemployment benefits last week amid a tightening job market.
· President Donald Trump is expected to rescind an Obama administration policy that protects from deportation nearly 800,000 immigrants who as children entered the country illegally, setting the stage for a fight with U.S. business leaders and lawmakers over tough immigration policy.
· U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said on Thursday he had signed orders to send additional troops to Afghanistan, the most concrete step yet by President Donald Trump’s administration in tackling America’s longest war.
· Mexico and Canada would remain in the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) even if the Trump administration abandoned the accord, Mexican Economy Minister Ildefonso Guajardo said on Thursday.
· Gasoline futures surged 10 percent on Thursday as almost a quarter of U.S. refining capacity remained offline and traders scrambled to reroute millions of barrels of fuel, while oil prices rose nearly 3 percent.
U.S. gasoline futures RBc1 have rallied roughly 26 percent from the previous week to a two-year high above $2 a gallon, buoyed by fears of a fuel shortage days ahead of the Labor Day weekend that typically brings a surge in driving. Gasoline was up 21.03 cents, or 11.2 percent, at $2.0950 at 1:53 p.m. (1753 GMT).
· U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures CLc1 recovered some early-week losses, trading $1.24 per barrel higher at $47.20 per barrel at 1309 EDT (1709 GMT). It was still on track to close the month down just under 6 percent, the steepest monthly loss since March.
International benchmark Brent crude LCOc1 was up $1.47 per barrel, or 2.89 percent, at $52.33 a barrel. It had fallen by just over 2 percent in the previous session.
· Hurricane Harvey, which brought record flooding to the U.S. oil heartland of Texas and killed at least 35 people, has paralysed at least 4.4 million barrels per day (bpd) of refining capacity, according to company reports and Reuters estimates.
Reference: Reuters
Thai
Eng