· The dollar steadied on Tuesday after edging away from a 10-week high overnight, taking support from underlying expectations that improved prospects for the U.S. economy would prompt the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates later this year.
The dollar index against a basket of six major currencies was a shade higher at 93.720 after dipping about 0.15percent overnight.
The dollar index remained in reach of the 10-week high of 94.267 scaled on Friday when surprisingly stronger U.S. September wages data enhanced already high expectations that the Fed would hike rates for a third time in 2017.
· The greenback had slipped on a bounce by the euro, following data showing German industrial output notched its biggest monthly increase in more than six years in August.A call from Sabine Lautenschlaeger, a member of the European Central Bank executive board, for the ECB to roll back asset purchases in 2018 also lifted the common currency.
· The dollar also took a knock against the yen late last week on a report that North Korea was preparing a long-range missile test. Concerns were that Pyongyang could mark the days leading to Tuesday, when it celebrates the founding of its ruling party, with some sort of provocatio
The greenback was flat at 112.690 yen. It had popped up to a near three-month high of 113.440 on Friday on the robust U.S. wages data before pulling back on North Korea concerns.
· Oil prices inched higher on Monday after one of the most bearish weeks in months, propped up by OPEC comments signaling the possibility of continued action to restore market balance in the long term.
Global benchmark Brent crude LCOc1 settled up 17 cents at $55.79 a barrel at 1:25 p.m. EDT (1725 GMT). Earlier in the session it touched a three-week low of $55.06. It ended last week 3.3 percent lower, its biggest weekly loss since June 2017.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures CLc1 ended the session up 0.6 percent or 29 cents higher at $49.58 a barrel. They came close to a four-week low when they fell to $49.13 earlier in the session. WTI’s losses last week came to 4.6 percent.
· Wildfires fanned by strong winds swept through California’s wine country on Monday after killing at least one person, forcing some 20,000 residents to flee, and destroying hundreds of homes and businesses.
Ten people confirmed dead from Northern California wildfires, says state agency spokesman.
Reference: Reuters
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