· The yen surged against the dollar on Friday after Bank of Japan Haruhiko Kuroda said the central bank will consider an exit from its ultra easy monetary policy if its inflation target is achieved in the year ending in March2020.
The greenback was 0.35 percent lower at 105.865 yen after touching 105.710, its lowest since Feb. 16.
The dollar was already on the backfoot even before BOJ’s Kuroda spoke, having pulled sharply back from six-week highs after U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to impose tariffs on steel and aluminium took the wind out of the greenback’s week-long recovery.
The dollar index against a basket of six major currencies fell 0.1 percent to 90.223
· President Donald Trump's plan to slap tariffs on foreign aluminum and steel could help U.S. producers, but it could also fuel inflation, slow the economy and trigger other retaliatory actions against U.S. industries, analysts said.
These fears weighed on stocks, and the market sold off sharply after initially flip-flopping amid confusion over whether there would be an announcement or not. But stocks sold off sharply when Trump surprised the markets and announced a 25 percent tariff on steel and a 10 percent tariff on aluminum.
"One of the largest fears we have is we've got tariffs. We could have trade wars, and it could blow up NAFTA negotiations, and nobody wins a trade war," said Art Hogan, chief market strategist at B. Riley FBR.
"Tariffs would probably have the unfortunate effect of both slowing growth and accelerating inflation, and that's not a good thing," said Ward McCarthy, chief financial economist at Jefferies. "For this economy, this is the worst possible time to be doing that.
· The European Commission warned President Donald Trump on Friday that it "will not sit idly" following the U.S. leader's decision to slap tariffs on steel and aluminum imports.
"We strongly regret this step, which appears to represent a blatant intervention to protect U.S. domestic industry and not to be based on any national security justification," said European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker in a statement.
· Japan’s upper chamber of parliament will hold a confirmation hearing on March 6 for Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda, who has been nominated for another term, a ruling party lawmaker said on Friday.
· Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda on Friday dismissed the chance of raising the bank’s long-term interest rate target just because inflation reaches 1 percent.
Some have called on the BOJ to raise its bond yield target before inflation hits the bank’s 2 percent target, arguing that 2 percent was too high a level to aim for in a country that has suffered from two decades of deflation.
· Euro zone economic momentum has peaked, according to a majority of economists in a Reuters poll who also said the European Central Bank will drop its easing bias on stimulus by or at the June meeting.
· U.S. oil prices fell on Friday, taking declines to a fourth day as Asian share markets extended a sell-off on Wall Street after news of planned U.S. tariffs on steel and aluminum raised fears of a trade war.
Global benchmark Brent LCOc1 was down 2 cents at $63.81 at 0740 GMT after spending most of the session slightly higher. The contract settled down 1.4 percent on Thursday, a two-week low. Brent is set for a weekly fall of 5.2 percent.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude CLc1 was down 11 cents, or 0.2 percent, at $60.88 after also touching a two-week low of $60.18 a day earlier.
U.S. crude is on track for a 4.2 percent drop this week, its first weekly decline in three, having given up much of the gains in recent weeks when sentiment was boosted by a fall in inventories at the Cushing delivery point for WTI.
Reference: Reuters, CNBC
Thai
Eng