• The yen rose on Thursday, reaching a three-week peak against the dollar, as traders sought safety in the Japanese currency amid global trade tensions and weakness on Wall Street.
The dollar fell 0.55against the yen, at 105.46 - 105.54 yen, after earlier slipping as low as 105.23 yen, its lowest level since March 2.
The dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, was up 0.030.07 percent at 89.811 - 89.847.
• U.S. President Donald Trump lit a slow-burning fuse on Thursday to launch long-promised anti-China tariffs, but his actions appeared to be more of a warning shot than the start of a full-blown trade war with Beijing.
A presidential memorandum signed by Trump will target up to $60 billion in Chinese goods with tariffs over what his administration says is misappropriation of U.S. intellectual property, but only after a 30-day consultation period that starts once a list is published.
Trump gave the Treasury Department 60 days to develop investment restrictions aimed at preventing Chinese-controlled companies and funds from acquiring U.S. firms with sensitive technologies.
The waiting periods will give industry lobbyists and U.S. lawmakers a chance to water down a proposed target list that runs to 1,300 products, many in technology sectors.
It also will create space for potential negotiations for Beijing to address Trump’s allegations on intellectual property and delay the start of immediate retaliation against U.S. products from aircraft to soybeans.
• China's commerce ministry on Friday proposed a list of 128 U.S. products as potential retaliation targets, according to a statement on its website posted Friday morning.
Beijing will take measures against the 128 U.S. goods in two stages if it cannot reach an agreement with Washington, the ministry said, adding that it could take legal action under World Trade Organization rules.
The statement did not go into greater detail. U.S. agricultural products, particularly soybeans, have been flagged as the biggest area of potential retaliation by Chinese President Xi Jinping's administration.
• Japanese Finance Minister Taro Aso said on Friday that he would closely watch the United States’ move to impose tariffs on up to $60 billion of Chinese goods.
• Legislation to fund the government beyond Friday, which was on a fast track toward passage by the U.S. Congress, hit a bump on Thursday as Republican Senator Rand Paul employed procedural delays while he hunkered down to read the 2,232-page tome.
Lawmakers were racing against a midnight Friday deadline, when current federal funding expires, in hope of avoiding a third partial government shutdown this year.
U.S. President Donald Trump will sign the $1.3 trillion government spending bill before Congress into law before current funding expires Friday night, assuming it passes the House and Senate, White House budget director Mick Mulvaney said on Thursday.
• The number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits unexpectedly rose last week, but the increase was marginal, suggesting strong job growth in March that should underpin consumer spending.
Initial claims for state unemployment benefits increased 3,000 to a seasonally adjusted 229,000 for the week ended March 17, the Labor Department said on Thursday. Data for the prior week was unrevised. Claims dropped to 210,000 during the week ended Feb. 24, which was the lowest level since December 1969.
Economists polled by Reuters had forecast claims dipping to 225,000 in the latest week. Claims have now been below the 300,000 threshold, which is associated with a strong labor market, for 159 straight weeks. That is the longest such stretch since 1970, when the labor market was much smaller.
• U.S. President Donald Trump defended his congratulations to Vladimir Putin on the Russian president’s disputed re-election victory on Wednesday, saying he wants Putin’s help in solving crises from North Korea to Syria and beyond.
Trump drew fire from Republicans and Democrats alike for telling reporters on Tuesday that he had congratulated Putin on his re-election and that the two leaders had made tentative plans to meet in the “not too distant future.”
• European Union leaders backed Britain on Thursday in blaming Moscow over a nerve agent attack on a former Russian spy in England, raising the possibility of additional retaliatory steps by some European countries.
• European Central Bank President Mario Draghi cautioned EU leaders at a summit on Thursday that European governments planning to raise spending even as growth picks up posed a medium-term risk to the economy.
• The European Central Bank will start buying bonds from a further seven state-owned German banks under its stimulus program, it said on Thursday, in a bid to avoid running out of debt to buy after three years of massive purchases.
• Japan’s core consumer prices edged higher in February from a year earlier, but the slow pace of gains suggests the Bank of Japan will need to maintain its ultra-easy monetary policy for some time yet.
The nationwide core consumer price index, which includes oil products but excludes volatile fresh food costs, rose 1.0 percent in February from a year earlier, matching the median estimate of economists in a Reuters poll.
With the effects of volatile fresh food and energy costs stripped out, prices rose an annual 0.5 percent in February, following a 0.4 percent annual increase in January, the data showed.
Consumer prices are likely to continue to grind higher thanks to a tight labor market and modestly rising wages, but yen appreciation threatens to lower import prices, which will keep the BOJ on the lookout for any risks to the positive price trend.
• Catalan secessionist parties failed on Thursday for a third time to elect a regional president, leaving them with a deadline of two months to pick someone or hold a new election.
Jordi Turull, a close ally of former president Carles Puigdemont, needed 69 votes to be elected but obtained only 64.
• Oil prices fell on Thursday as investors took profits after this week’s rally and as U.S. stock markets fell, but losses were limited by the continuing efforts of OPEC and its allies to curb supplies.
Brent crude LCOc1 futures fell 56 cents to settle at $68.91 a barrel, a 0.8 percent loss, having retreated from a session peak of $69.70, close to its highest level since early February.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude CLc1 futures fell 87 cents to settle at $64.30 a barrel, a 1.3 percent loss. WTI traded between $64.23 a barrel and $65.74 a barrel during the session.
Reference: Reuters, CNBC
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