• The dollar inched up against the yen on Thursday as stocks bounced back from a sell-off triggered by an escalating U.S.-China trade dispute.
The greenback was 0.15 percent higher at 106.930 yen , having pulled higher from a low of 105.990 set the previous day.
The euro nudged up 0.05 percent to $1.2284 , adding to the previous day’s modest gains.
The common currency still remained within reach of a two-week low of $1.2254 plumbed on Tuesday after a survey showed the euro zone’s manufacturing boom stumbled for a third month in March as optimism waned and demand ebbed.
The dollar index against a basket of six major currencies was effectively flat at 90.123.
• U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs on China could backfire and hurt U.S. consumers and companies instead, with over 2.5 million U.S. jobs relying on trade between the world's top two economies, the chairman of the American Chamber of Commerce in China said.
• Businesses across the euro zone ended the first quarter with their weakest expansion since the start of 2017 as snowy weather and a strong currency combined to curb growth in new orders, a survey showed on Thursday.
IHS Markit’s Final Composite Purchasing Managers’ Index, seen as a good overall indicator of euro zone growth, fell to 55.2 in March from February’s 57.1 and revised down slightly from the flash estimate of 55.3.
• German industrial orders rose less than expected in February due to weak domestic demand, data showed on Thursday, but the Economy Ministry said demand should pick up later this year.
Contracts for ‘Made in Germany’ goods rose by 0.3 percent after falling by an upwardly revised 3.5 percent in January, data from the Economy Ministry showed.
• Japanese households’ confidence on the economy worsened in March for the first time in over a year and their inflation expectations slid, a quarterly survey showed, underscoring the challenge of hitting the central bank’s elusive price goal.
The survey, which followed the Bank of Japan’s “tankan” poll that showed business mood souring for the first time in two years, suggests the economy may be peaking after enjoying the longest streak of expansion since the 1980s bubble period.
A diffusion index measuring households’ confidence on the economy worsened to minus 12.4 in March from minus 11.9 in December, deteriorating for the first time in five quarters, the BOJ’s survey on people’s livelihood showed on Thursday.
· The U.S. and China indicated they’re willing to negotiate on escalating frictions, helping to ease fears among investors that a tit-for-tat trade dispute could derail the strongest global expansion in years.
The White House’s National Economic Council Director Larry Kudlow spent much of the day Wednesday trying to calm markets after the two countries announced tariffs, and said they still have time work out their differences.
• Oil prices rose on Thursday, buoyed by the U.S. government data showing a surprise drawdown in crude stockpiles and an easing of tensions over a trade row between the United States and China.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude for May delivery CLc1 was up 20 cents, or 0.3 percent, at $63.57 a barrel by 0646 GMT after settling down 14 cents.
Front-month London Brent crude LCOc1 for June delivery was up 27 cents, or 0.4 percent, at $68.29, having ended down 10 cents.
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