• The dollar traded above its recent lows against major rivals on Friday, having bounced after U.S. President Donald Trump said he wanted a “strong dollar”, contradicting earlier comments made by Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.
Against a basket of six major currencies, the dollar last traded at 89.176, staying above a three-year low of roughly around 88.43 set this week. The dollar index has slid more than 3 percent so far in January.
The euro last traded at $1.2424, up 0.2 percent on the day but down from Thursday’s high of $1.2538.
Against the yen, the dollar held steady at 109.42 yen, staying above a four-month low of 108.50 yen struck on Thursday.
• European Central Bank policymakers gathering on Thursday were split on their next policy move as a stronger-than-expected rise in the euro gets in the way of their careful exit from years of aggressive stimulus, sources close to the matter told Reuters.
The ECB reaffirmed its easy policy of massive bond purchases and ultra low-rates on Thursday despite an increasingly upbeat assessment of the economy.
Rate setters had been working on the assumption of making a change to their policy message in March to signal that they were preparing to phase out their 2.55 trillion euro ($3.18 trillion) money-printing program later in the year.
• U.S. President Donald Trump last June ordered Special Counsel Robert Mueller fired but backed down after the White House counsel threatened to resign rather than follow his directive, The New York Times reported on Thursday, citing four people told of the matter.
• George Soros said President Donald Trump is risking a nuclear war with North Korea and predicts that the groundswell of opposition he’s generated will be his downfall.
“I consider the Trump administration a danger to the world,” the billionaire investor said in a speech from Davos, Switzerland. “But I regard it as a purely temporary phenomenon that will disappear in 2020, or even sooner.” He expects a Democratic “landslide” in the 2018 elections.
• President Donald Trump made major news last week when he accused Russia of helping North Korea evade international sanctions.
Reports that Russian tankers helped deliver fuel to the pariah state underscore that contention, but that occurrence alone doesn't explain why the Kremlin would actively undermine the international community.
For its part, Russia's foreign ministry has formally denied any participation in helping Pyongyang skirt sanctions. Still, foreign policy specialists said the Kremlin stands to benefit from tensions surrounding North Korea.
• The weak U.S. dollar policy as advocated this week by Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin would stop the economic boom in its tracks, noted banking analyst Dick Bove said.
• U.S. negotiators have held firm in their demands for a wide-ranging overhaul of NAFTA, three sources close to the talks said on Thursday, raising questions about whether any real movement is happening at the latest round of negotiations on the treaty.
Officials from Canada, Mexico and the United States are in Montreal for the sixth and penultimate set of talks on the North American Free Trade Agreement. Major differences remain to be settled ahead of the end-March deadline.
• Oil prices fell on Friday ahead of the end of the peak-demand winter season in the northern hemisphere, although ongoing supply cuts and the weakening dollar offered broad support to the market.
Brent crude futures were at $70.22 per barrel at 0556 GMT, down 20 cents, or 0.3 percent, from their last close. Brent the previous day marked its highest since December, 2014 at $71.28.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were at $65.38 a barrel, down 13 cents, or 0.2 percent from their previous close. WTI also touched its highest since December, 2014 in the last session at $66.66.
Reference: Reuters, CNBC
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