• The dollar edged higher against the yen on Thursday after comments by China’s foreign exchange regulator eased concerns that China may reduce its buying of U.S. government bonds.
The dollar rose 0.2 percent to 111.70 yen JPY=, pulling away from a six-week low of 111.27 yen on Wednesday.
China’s foreign exchange regulator said a recent report that China was considering slowing down or halting its purchases of U.S. Treasury bonds could be based on erroneous information.
Against a basket of six major currencies, the dollar inched up 0.1 percent to 92.396 .DXY, having fallen as low as 91.922 on Wednesday.
The euro was steady on Thursday at $1.1951 EUR=, having retreated from Wednesday's intraday high of $1.20185.
• South Korea’s justice minister said on Thursday the government is preparing a bill to ban cryptocurrency trading, throwing the virtual coin market into turmoil as the nation’s police and tax authorities raided local exchanges on alleged tax evasion.
Bitcoin fell more than 11 percent after South Korea said it was preparing a bill to ban trade in the cryptocurrency.
• President Donald Trump said on Wednesday his primary concern with the Paris climate accord was that it treated the United States unfairly and that if a better deal could be reached, Washington might be persuaded to rejoin the agreement.
• Mexico will leave the NAFTA negotiating table if U.S. President Donald Trump decides to trigger a 6-month process to withdraw from the trade pact, three Mexican sources with knowledge of the talks told Reuters on Wednesday.
Reuters reported earlier in the day that Canada was increasingly convinced that Trump would soon announce the United States intends to pull out of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), sending the Canadian and Mexican currencies lower and hurting stocks across the continent.
• Britain’s forthcoming exit from the European Union was the main reason for a 37 percent decline in new jobs available in London’s financial sector last month, according to a report from recruiting firm Morgan McKinley released on Thursday.
Financial services jobs new to the market in December fell to 3,150 from 4,980 in December 2016, the report said, as uncertainty around the terms of Britain’s exit from the EU made companies in the city reluctant to hire.
• China’s Premier Li Keqiang said the world’s second-biggest economy is expected to have grown around 6.9 percent last year, the official Xinhua news agency reported, accelerating from a 26-year low in 2016.
Analysts expect the economy to have grown around 6.8 percent last year, beating the government’s target of about 6.5 percent, thanks to a construction boom and robust global demand for Chinese exports. Gross domestic product expanded 6.7 percent in 2016.
• China’s commerce ministry said on Thursday protectionist sentiment is rising in the United States after Chinese company Ant Financial’s plan to buy U.S. money transfer firm MoneyGram International Inc (MGI.O) collapsed.
China’s commerce ministry said on Thursday the United States’ restrictions on tech exports to the country will contribute to the trade deficit it has with China.
• Oil dipped away from three-year highs on Thursday on signs that a 13-percent rally since early December may have run its course, although a surprise drop in U.S. production and lower crude inventories offered prices some support.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were at $63.46 a barrel at 0753 GMT, 11 cents below their last settlement, though still close to a December-2014 high of $63.67 per barrel reached the previous day.
Brent crude futures were at $69.05 a barrel, 15 cents below their last finish, albeit also still close to the previous day’s peak of $69.37 a barrel - the highest level since an intra-day spike in May, 2015.
Reference: Reuters, CNBC
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