• The dollar edged up against peers on Thursday, shaking off earlier losses versus the yen, supported by signs that investors’ risk appetites were improving again and by optimism on U.S. tax reforms.
The greenback was 0.1 percent higher at 112.380 yen after dropping by 0.25 percent overnight.
The dollar had slipped against the yen after President Donald Trump on Wednesday recognised Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, imperilling Middle East peace efforts and upsetting Washington’s friends and foes alike.
The dollar index was little changed at 93.543 after rising to 93.650 overnight, its highest since Nov. 22.
The euro was steady at $1.1803 after slipping 0.25 percent overnight, when it hit a two-week low of $1.1780.
• Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda stressed the need to look at the impact monetary policy has on the banking system and said changes in the economy could trigger a hike in the bank’s yield targets, offering the strongest signal to date it may edge away from its crisis-mode stimulus programme.
• Tighter monetary policy is coming to Asia next year. Yet it will lag the Federal Reserve’s rate hikes as Asian central banks balance an exports-led revival in growth with a slowdown in regional locomotive China.
That will mark a shift from a few months ago when most economists expected Asian policy makers to hold their ground or even ease further, but the trade windfall behind a synchronised uptick in global growth is seen lasting longer.
• President Donald Trump on Wednesday again raised the possibility of a U.S. government shutdown - blaming Democrats for that possible outcome - one day before he is due to host Republican and Democratic congressional leaders for talks on spending bills.
Trump and Congress are facing a deadline of Friday at midnight to pass fresh spending legislation. If they cannot agree on the terms, parts of the federal government could shut down.
Trump’s warning about a shutdown came as conservative House members pushed for increases in military spending along with either a freeze or reduction in domestic programs.
Their bid is likely to be rejected by Democrats, who make up a minority in Congress, and could further complicate months of behind-the-scenes negotiations by congressional leaders aimed at figuring out government spending through the end of this fiscal year on Sept. 30, 2018.
• Arabs and Muslims across the Middle East on Wednesday condemned the U.S. recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital as an incendiary move in a volatile region and Palestinians said Washington was abandoning its leading role as a peace mediator.
The European Union and United Nations also voiced alarm at U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to move the U.S. Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem and its repercussions for any chances of reviving Israeli-Palestinian peacemaking.
Major U.S. allies came out against Trump’s reversal of decades of U.S. and broad international policy on Jerusalem.
• Oil prices were stable on Thursday as a fall in U.S. crude inventories was countered by soaring output and a rise in fuel stocks.
U.S. crude oil inventories fell by 5.6 million barrels in the week to Dec. 1, to 448.1 million barrels C-STK-T-EIA, putting stocks below seasonal levels in 2015 and 2016.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were at $55.95 a barrel at 0658 GMT, virtually unchanged from their last settlement.
Brent crude futures LCOc1, the international benchmark for oil prices, were at $61.29 a barrel, up 7 cents.
Reference: Reuters, CNBC
Thai
Eng