· The dollar index against a basket of six major currencies .DXY was 0.3 percent higher at 90.793 after pulling back overnight from a three-year low of 90.279 set earlier in the week.
The euro was traded at $1.2203 EUR=, slipping from a three-year peak above $1.2300 after some ECB officials voiced worries about the currency's strength. The common currency had advanced this month on expectations that the central bank would take steps towards winding back on stimulus measures to normalise monetary policy.
The dollar was flat at 111.270 yen JPY= after surging 0.75 percent overnight, when it bounced from a four-month low of 110.190.
The two-year Treasury yield US2YT=RR hovered near a nine-year high of 2.051 percent reached on Wednesday on expectations the Federal Reserve will continue to tighten monetary policy this year.
· President Donald Trump said on Wednesday Russia is helping North Korea get supplies in violation of international sanctions and that Pyongyang is getting "closer every day" to being able to deliver a long-range missile to the United States.
"Russia is not helping us at all with North Korea," Trump said during an Oval Office interview with Reuters. "What China is helping us with, Russia is denting. In other words, Russia is making up for some of what China is doing."
· A majority of economists polled by Reuters believe the Bank of Japan will keep its long-term interest rate target unchanged this year, though 40 percent expect a hike, reflecting the mounting speculation as Japan’s economy continues to strengthen.
· China's economy grew 6.9 percent in 2017, ending the year on a positive note as official figures topped the government target of around 6.5 percent, the country's statistics bureau said on Thursday.
Fourth quarter GDP growth was 6.8 percent. The Chinese economy was forecast to have grown 6.7 percent in the fourth quarter from the same period a year ago, and slightly lower than the 6.8 percent in the third quarter, according to a poll of economists by Reuters.
· Growth in new home prices in China rose to a five-month high in December after stabilising for two consecutive months, despite a range of government moves to rein in an overheated property market.
Average new home prices in China’s 70 major cities rose 0.4 percent in December from the previous month, compared with an increase of 0.3 percent in November, Reuters calculated from National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) data out on Thursday.
· China's cross-border capital flows reached a turning point last year as they became basically balanced compared to previous net outflows, the foreign exchange regulator said on Thursday.
Cross-border capital flows will remain largely steady in 2018 as the impact from the U.S. Federal Reserve's policy normalization on capital flows in China is weakening, Wang Chunying, spokeswomen for the State Administration of Foreign Exchange, told reporters.
· South Korea’s financial regulator chief said the government is considering shutting down all local virtual currency exchanges in a national policy committee meeting on Thursday.
“(The government) is considering both shutting down all local virtual currency exchanges or just the ones who have been violating the law,” said Choi Jong-ku, chief of Financial Services Commission, to a question from a parliament member.
· Oil prices were stable on Thursday, supported by tighter inventories of crude as well as rebel threats of an attack on Nigeria’s petroleum industry, but the market was weighed down by a reported rise in U.S. fuel stocks.
Brent crude futures were at $69.34 at 0753 GMT, down 4 cents from their last close. On Monday, they hit their highest since December 2014 at $70.37 a barrel.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were at $64.03 a barrel, up 6 cents from their last settlement. WTI marked it highest since December 2014 at $64.89 on Tuesday.
Reference: Reuters, CNBC
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