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• The U.S. dollar hovered near a one-month low against a basket of major currencies on Friday and was on course for its biggest weekly drop in five as investors worried that escalating trade tensions could hurt global growth.

The dollar index .DXY, which measures the greenback against a basket of six other major currencies, was down 0.48 percent at89.427. For the week, the index was down 0.9 percent.

• The yen, often viewed as a safe-haven currency in times of market turbulence and economic uncertainty, partly because of the resilience provided by Japan’s current account surplus, rose to a 16-month high against the dollar.

The greenback was down 0.34 percent at 104.9 yen.

• Despite threats of retaliation from China over U.S. plans to impose tariffs on up to $60 billion in Chinese goods, Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin on Sunday said President Donald Trump had no intention of backing down and was not worried about a trade war.

• The United States has flouted trade rules with an inquiry into intellectual property and China will defend its interests, Vice Premier Liu He told U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin in a telephone call on Saturday, Chinese state media reported.

The call between Mnuchin and Liu, a confidante of President Xi Jinping, was the highest-level contact between the two governments since U.S. President Donald Trump announced plans for tariffs on up to $60 billion of Chinese goods on Thursday.

• China’s vice commerce minister said on Sunday China would further open up its finance, telecom, medical and education sectors and consider completely lifting restrictions on foreign shareholdings in some areas.

China pledged on Sunday to press ahead with market opening and reforms while reiterating that it will treat domestic and foreign firms equally and protect intellectual property rights.

• Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, his ratings in a slump amid a suspected cronyism scandal and cover-up, apologized again on Sunday for causing anxiety and loss of confidence in his government.

Protesters urged Abe to resign, as riot police kept tight security outside the venue of his ruling party’s annual convention, at which the premier stressed his intention to revise Japan’s pacifist post-war, U.S.-drafted constitution.

Abe faces his biggest political crisis since taking office in December 2012 as suspicions swirl about a sale of state-owned land at a huge discount to a nationalist school operator with ties to his wife.

• A senior Iranian official said on Sunday it was “shameful” that U.S. President Donald Trump had named John Bolton as national security adviser because of his ties with rebels whom Iran sees as “terrorists”, the state news agency IRNA reported.

• John Williams, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, is the leading candidate to succeed William Dudley as head of the New York Fed, the Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday citing unnamed people familiar with the matter.

The New York Fed and the San Francisco Fed declined to comment.

On March 16, the New York Fed said it was considering “a handful” of final candidates to replace Dudley, who plans to step down by mid-year.

• Britain’s opposition Labour Party will on Monday demand that parliament has the final say on the government’s Brexit deal, including an option to send ministers back to the negotiating table rather than leave without an exit agreement.

• Oil prices rose on Friday, pushed up by Saudi statements that OPEC and Russian led production curbs that were introduced in2017 will need to be extended into 2019 in order to tighten the market.

The rise in oil prices defied global stock markets and other commodities, which slumped on the back of worries about a trade stand-off between the United States and China.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were at $65.09 a barrel at 0045 GMT, up 79 cents, or 1.2 percent, from their previous close.

Brent crude futures were at $69.64 per barrel, up 73 cents, or 1.1 percent.

Reference: Reuters, Kitco