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• The U.S. dollar was lower on Friday along with Wall Street stocks as investors pulled back from technology stocks and were skeptical President Donald Trump’s Republican party would succeed in its efforts at overhauling U.S. tax law.

The dollar index .DXY, which measures the greenback against six rival currencies, was down 0.31 percent to 93.645. For the week, the index was down 0.8 percent. The euro EUR= was up 0.23 percent to $1.1796.

• U.S. Treasury yields edged lower, in line with declines in U.S. stock indexes and German 10-year bond yields, as risk appetite faded. The yield curve continued to flatten after strong U.S. housing starts data for October and investors bet on further rate hikes from the Federal Reserve.

Benchmark 10-year notes US10YT=RR last rose 5/32 in price to yield 2.3452 percent compared with 2.361 percent late on Thursday.

• Global banks raised concerns on Friday over a provision in the U.S. Senate tax bill aimed at cracking down on tax avoidance by multinational corporations that they said could hurt the banking industry.

Banks initially looked to be one of the major winners of Republican lawmakers’ efforts to overhaul the U.S. tax code, and publicly they have been very supportive.

But two bank trade groups noted in a letter to the Senate Finance Committee that a provision to fight tax dodging by multinationals could ratchet up the cost of providing risk management services to Main Street companies, causing market disruption.

The letter, seen by Reuters, was sent by the International Swaps and Derivatives Association and the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association, whose members include the likes of Goldman Sachs Group Inc, Morgan Stanley, Citigroup Inc and JPMorgan.

• U.S. President Donald Trump would not insist on including repeal of an Obama-era health insurance mandate in a bill intended to enact the biggest overhaul of the tax code since the 1980s, a senior White House aide said on Sunday.

“If we can repeal part of Obamacare as part of a tax bill ... that can pass, that’s great,” White House budget director Mick Mulvaney said on CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday. “If it becomes an impediment to getting the best tax bill we can, then we are OK with taking it out.”

It was too soon to say whether eliminating the repeal of the so-called individual mandate would increase the bill’s chances of passing. The provision was not an impediment now, Mulvaney said.

• German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s efforts to form a three-way coalition government that would secure her a fourth term hit a major setback on Sunday after a would-be coalition partner pulled out of exploratory talks, citing irreconcilable differences.

The pro-business Free Democrats (FDP) unexpectedly walked out of the talks with Merkel’s conservatives and the Greens, saying that the three parties could not find compromises on key issues like immigration and the environment.

Merkel could seek to form a minority government with the Greens, or new elections will be called.

• Brazil’s central bank chief Ilan Goldfajn said he expects the U.S. Federal Reserve to continue to raise U.S. interest rates gradually, allowing the current relatively benign environment for the South American economy to continue.

He added that he expects Jerome Powell, nominated by President Donald Trump to succeed Janet Yellen as Fed Chair in February, to continue to raise rates gradually, “and that will be good for emerging markets.”

• China’s new home prices rose at a slightly faster pace in October after gains had held steady the previous month, as prices remained resilient in the face of falling sales and a tighter liquidity environment.

Average new home prices rose 0.3 percent month-on-month in October, compared with a 0.2 percent gain in September, according to Reuters calculations from National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) data out on Saturday.

New home prices rose 5.4 percent year-on-year in October, down from September’s 6.3 percent increase as rapid increases subside in the face of government efforts to engineer a soft landing in the housing market.

• Oil rebounded more than 2 percent on Friday after falling for five straight session as a major U.S. crude pipeline was shut and traders anticipated an OPEC deal to extend curbs on production.

TransCanada Corp’s (TRP.TO) 590,000 barrel-per-day (bpd) Keystone pipeline remained shut after a leak in South Dakota on Thursday.

Prices, however, fell for the first week in six, pressured by rising U.S. output data and doubts that Russia would support an extension of the OPEC output cut deal. Prices rebounded after Thursday’s comments by Saudi Arabia’s energy minister signaled a willingness to extend output cuts when OPEC meets on Nov. 30.

Brent crude oil LCOc1 rose $1.36, or 2.2 percent, to settle at $62.72 a barrel while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude (WTI) CLc1 ended $1.41, or 2.6 percent, at $56.55 a barrel.

Reference: Reuters