• The dollar traded near a one-week high against the yen on Thursday, supported by a rise in U.S. bond yields and showing limited reaction after the Bank of Japan kept interest rates steady as expected.
The dollar held steady at 113.40 yen JPY=, clinging near Wednesday's high of 113.47 yen, its strongest level since Dec. 13.
· The European Union wants a transition period after Brexit to end no later than the last day of 2020, according to the European Commission’s negotiating directives agreed on Wednesday.
That date, coinciding with the end of the EU’s seven-year budget period and 21 months after Britain departs the EU, had long been expected as the target end point of the transition.
But this was the first official confirmation that it is the goal of the Union’s negotiators.
· Germany’s economy should continue its current robust growth trajectory in the coming months before reverting to trend growth level in the medium term, the finance ministry said in a monthly report published on Thursday.
Based on data released over the final quarter, the report could prove good news for the parties preparing to start talks on forming a new coalition government in January, suggesting there may be fiscal space to deliver on some of the pricier social policy demands set by the Social Democrats (SPD).
· South Korean troops reportedly fired warning shots as North Korean troops searched for a suspected defector along the heavily-militarized ceasefire line between the two countries, Reuters reported Thursday, citing South Korea's Yonhap news agency.
In mid-November, a soldier from the North was shot multiple times after running across the demilitarized zone that separates North and South Korea.
· The House overcame a final hurdle by voting Wednesday to approve a sweeping overhaul of the nation's tax code, sending the legislation to President Donald Trump's desk for signature.
The plan, expected to become law for next year, would significantly remake the U.S. tax code for the first time in decades. The bill would slash tax rates for businesses while temporarily trimming the tax burden on most, but not all, individuals.
· BOJ Governor Haruhiko Kuroda told a news conference he had no plan to change the current policy framework now, saying that dwindling profits at financial institutions resulted not simply from ultra-low interest rates but structural factors such as a dwindling population.
· Oil prices dipped on Thursday as soaring U.S. output, fast approaching 10 million barrels per day (bpd), outweighed a drop in American crude inventories.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were at $58.02 a barrel at 0540 GMT, down 7 cents from their last settlement.
Brent crude futures, international benchmark for oil prices, were at $64.45 a barrel, down 11 cents.
Reference: CNBC, Reuters
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