· The dollar limped back from a three-year low against a basket of currencies on Friday but still marked its fifth weekly loss out of seven weeks this year, driving the euro up to its highest level since December 2014.
The dollar index against a group of six major peers .DXY was mostly steady at 89.081 after enjoying a modest bounce on Friday following its descent to 88.253, its lowest since December 2014.
The U.S. currency has been weighed down by several factors this year, including the perceived erosion of its yield advantage as other countries start to scale back easy monetary policy.
· Traders’ confidence in the dollar has also been worn down by worries over the United States’ current account and budget deficits, with the latter projected to balloon to near $1 trillion in 2019 amid a government spending splurge and hefty corporate tax cuts.
· The euro was last down to $1.241 after hitting its highest since 2014 at $1.256 earlier in the day.
· The U.S. currency traded slightly up on the day at 106.30 yen, having earlier sunk to a new 15-month low of 105.52 yen.
· Bond investors, who have been on edge over signs of growing inflation and a possibly more aggressive Federal Reserve, will have their work cut out for them as the U.S. government seeks to sell $258 billion worth of debt this coming week.
· Islamic State has claimed responsibility for a shooting in Russia’s southern province of Dagestan that killed five people on Sunday, according to the militant group’s news agency Amaq, although it did not provide immediate evidence for the claim.
· Oil prices edged up on Friday as a rebound in the global equities market and a weak dollar supported crude’s recovery from last week’s slide.
Brent crude futures LCOc1 settled 51 cents, or 0.8 percent, higher at $64.84 per barrel, after touching eight-day highs. The global benchmark ended the week up more than 3 percent, partially recovering from a decline of more than 8 percent last week.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude CLc1 rose 34 cents, or 0.6 percent, to $61.68. WTI gained 4 percent this week after losing nearly 10 percent last week.
Reference: Reuters
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