• The dollar stalled against its peers on Friday as the recovery seen earlier this week petered out ahead of the new quarter, which could potentially bring renewed pressure on the greenback.
Against a basket of six other major currencies .DXY, the dollar was off 0.2 percent to 89.985.
The index was up nearly 0.6 percent for the week, during which it touched a one-week high of 90.178 on factors including easing of concerns over global trade protectionism and perceived progress on North Korea’s nuclear programmme.
• Chinese initial public offerings in the U.S. accounted for about a fifth of U.S. IPO proceeds in the last three months, their best quarter by proceeds in three years, according to Renaissance Capital. The firms, mostly lesser-known, smaller Chinese companies, are often drawn to the prestige associated with the New York stock exchanges.
"As a U.S.-listed company it'll be easier to attract top talent from Chinese internet companies," Yipeng Li, chief financial officer of Sunlands Online Education, told CNBC on the day of its IPO, March 23.
• Two of Mexico’s four presidential hopefuls began their campaigns on Friday, as the country looks set to reject the party that has governed for most of the past century over corruption scandals and favour a leftist dissenter.
Opinion polls ahead of the July 1 election show Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador with a large lead, with the mainstream opposition challenger second and the ruling party candidate far behind.
• China is taking its first steps towards paying for imported crude oil in yuan instead of the U.S. dollar, three people with knowledge of the matter told Reuters, a key development in Beijing’s efforts to establish its currency internationally.
A pilot programme for yuan payment could be launched as early as the second half of this year, two of the people said.
• Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said on Friday he would explain Japan’s stance on the North Korean abduction of Japanese citizens in a meeting with Donald Trump, ahead of the U.S. president’s planned summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
Japan’s government worries the emotive matter of the abductees, which Abe has made a key issue during his political career, will take a back seat to nuclear and missile issues in the U.S.-North Korean summit.
“I plan to visit the Unites States next month and have a summit meeting with President Trump and discuss the North Korean situation,” Abe said.
Reference: Reuters, CNBC
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