• The dollar rallied on Wednesday on upbeat U.S. manufacturing and construction data and after minutes from the Federal Reserve’s last policy meeting showed the central bank remained on track to raise interest rates several times this year.
In late trading, the dollar bounced 0.3 percent to 92.18 after falling 2.5 percent over the last three weeks. The dollar’s 10 percent drop in 2017 was the largest annual decline in 14 years.
The greenback also rose 0.2 percent versus the yen to 112.51 yen on Wednesday.
The euro, meanwhile, slid 0.3 percent to $1.2016 after hitting a four-month high of $1.2081 on Tuesday, up roughly 3 percent from a mid-December trough.
• U.S. factory activity increased more than expected in December, boosted by a surge in new orders growth, in a further sign of strong economic momentum at the end of 2017.
The Institute for Supply Management (ISM) said its index of national factory activity jumped to a reading of 59.7 last month, the second-highest reading in six years, from 58.2 in November. A reading above 50 indicates growth in manufacturing, which accounts for about 12 percent of the U.S. economy.
• U.S. construction spending rose 0.8 percent in November to an all-time high of $1.257 trillion, driven by a surge in investment in private residential and nonresidential projects.
• Federal Reserve officials expect reductions in corporate and personal taxes to boost consumer and business spending, though they remain unsure of the impact of the new tax law, according to minutes released Wednesday from their December meeting.
"Most participants indicated that prospective changes in federal tax policy were a factor that led them to boost their projections of real GDP growth over the next couple of years," minutes from the Fed's December meeting say.
The minutes also reflected concern "that inflation might stay below the objective for longer than they currently expected."
Members of the Federal Open Market Committee increased their expectations for 2018 GDP growth from 2.1 percent, or about trend since the post-financial crisis recovery, to 2.5 percent.
Officials also remained somewhat at loggerheads when it came to inflation. The Fed has consistently missed its 2 percent target for price rises, and members discussed at length the reasons why the reading has remained so low.
Fed officials collectively see inflation likely to meet the target over the medium term, but two members — Neel Kashkari and Charles Evans — voted against the rate hike because they'd like to see more progress on the target.
• President Donald Trump on Wednesday blasted former White House adviser Steve Bannon as having “lost his mind” in the fallout over damaging comments Bannon made about Trump’s son, Donald Trump Jr., in excerpts of a new book.
Trump, who had continued to speak privately with Bannon in the months after firing him as the White House chief strategist last August, essentially cut ties with Bannon at least for now in a blistering statement issued after Bannon’s comments about Don Jr. came to light.
• President Donald Trump’s former campaign manager Paul Manafort sued Special Counsel Robert Mueller on Wednesday, alleging that his office’s wide-ranging investigation into possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia exceeded its legal authority and needed to be reined in.
• Oil prices rose about 2 percent on Wednesday to the highest in 2-1/2 years, with buying spurred by a sixth day of unrest in OPEC member Iran and strong economic data from the United States and Germany.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures CLc1 settled at $61.63 a barrel, up $1.26, or 2.1 percent.
International benchmark Brent crude futures LCOc1 settled up $1.27 a barrel, or 1.9 percent, to $67.84 a barrel.
• Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards have deployed forces to three provinces to put down anti-government unrest, their commander said on Wednesday. Six days of protests have left 21 people dead.
Reference: Reuters, CNBC
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