• The dollar inched higher against a basket of major peers on Monday as traders braced for new Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s first monetary policy meeting this week, and as the increased threat of trade protectionism kept markets on edge.
The dollar index against a basket of six major peers rose 0.1 percent to 90.297. On Friday, the index hit a two-week high near 90.38, getting a boost after data showed a February surge in U.S. industrial production.
Against the dollar, the euro fell 0.2 percent to $1.2266.
Traders are also nervous after weekend polls suggested a massive drop in public support for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe over his handling of a festering cronyism scandal, which has raised doubts about his ability to press forward with his reflationary economic agenda including monetary easing.
The dollar eased 0.2 percent to 105.74 yen, inching back in the direction of a 16-month low of 105.24 yen touched on March 2.
• Japan’s central bank policymakers said it needs to stick with quantitative easing with inflation still well below its 2 percent price target, a summary of opinions of board members at the last rate review showed on Monday.
One Bank of Japan board member said further yen strength and stock declines could curb capital expenditure and consumer spending, which could delay hitting the inflation target, the summary showed.
• Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, his popularity plunging amid a cronyism scandal, took responsibility on Monday for a loss of trust in his government but denied he or his wife had intervened in a land sale to a school operator with ties to his wife.
Two opinion polls published over the weekend showed Abe’s support diving to its lowest since he took office in December 2012, and others showed a majority of Japanese believed he bore some responsibility for the scandal.
In an apparent nod to those polls, several of which showed his support sinking into the 30-percent level, Abe acknowledged that public trust had been shaken.
• White House lawyer Ty Cobb said on Sunday that President Donald Trump was not considering or discussing firing Special Counsel Robert Mueller.
• China elevated a key confidante of President Xi Jinping to one of the top positions in government on Monday as Beijing cracks down on riskier financing and a debt build-up that may pose systemic risks to the world’s second-largest economy.
• Oil prices fell on Monday as increased drilling in the United States pointed to more output, raising concerns about a return of oversupply.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were at $62.14 a barrel at 0739 GMT, down 20 cents, or 0.3 percent, from their previous close.
Brent crude futures were at $65.99 per barrel, down 22 cents, or 0.3 percent.
Reference: Reuters, CNBC
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