MTS Help Center

• The dollar fell on Friday, undermined by the ongoing trade dispute between China and the United States and a report showing the U.S. economy in March created the fewest jobs in six months.

In afternoon trading, the yen and Swiss franc, two currencies investors buy in times of market stress, rallied, with the dollar falling 0.5 percent to 106.89 yen and declining 0.5 percent to 0.9587 franc.

The dollar index also fell 0.4 percent to 90.12 .DXY, as the euro rose 0.4 percent to $1.2282.

The greenback slid against the safe-haven yen and Swiss franc in the wake of new comments from China.

• China on Friday warned it would fight back “at any cost,” hours after U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to slap tariffs on an additional $100 billion in Chinese goods.

• Losses in the dollar escalated after China’s Commerce Ministry spokesman Gao Feng said the country will not hesitate to respond if the United States adds further tariffs. He ruled out negotiations under these conditions.

• The U.S.-China trade dispute outweighed a U.S. payrolls report that showed fewer job gains than expected, as well as generally upbeat remarks on the economy from Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell.

• Powell said on Friday the Fed will likely need to keep raising U.S. interest rates to keep inflation under control.

• Nonfarm payrolls rose 103,000 in March while the unemployment rate was 4.1 percent, falling well short of Wall Street expectations during a month where weather caused havoc on the jobs market, according to a Bureau of Labor Statistics report Friday.

Economists had been expecting a payrolls gain of 193,000 and the unemployment rate to decline one-tenth of a point to 4 percent. The monthly reading was a huge slip from the 326,000 reported in February.

In addition to the payrolls news, the closely watched average hourly earnings figure rose 0.3 percent, against estimates of 0.2 percent. The number equates to a healthy but not worrisome 2.7 percent rate on an annualized basis. The average work week was unchanged at 34.5 hours.

However, markets reacted little to the news as February's number was revised higher and the longer-term trend of strong growth looked intact.

Inflation also was of little worry as average hourly earnings rose at a 2.7 percent annualized pace.

• Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell and the incoming chief of the New York Fed on Friday stuck closely to a unified script on the economic outlook, in separate appearances sketching a picture of gradual interest-rate hikes ahead.

But as global stocks fell on jitters over escalating U.S.-China trade tensions, Powell merely said it was too soon to know if the trade issue would take a toll on the U.S. economy, which has been steadily strengthening.

• Chicago Federal Reserve Bank President Charles Evans, one of the Fed’s most dovish policymakers, said Saturday that he is optimistic inflation will reach the Fed’s 2 percent goal and that slow, gradual rate increases will be appropriate.

• U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said on Sunday there was a risk of a trade war between the United States and China after the countries proposed imposing tariffs on billions of dollars’ worth of one another’s goods, but that he did not expect one.

“Our expectation is that we don’t think there will be a trade war; our objective is to continue to have discussions with China ... I don’t expect there will be a trade war - it could be, but I don’t expect it at all,” he told CBS’ Face The Nation.

Mnuchin added that President Donald Trump and Chinese president Xi Jinping have a “very close relationship” and that the United States and China would continue to discuss trade issues.

• Chinese state media on Sunday called on industrial and commercial sectors in the United States to rally against President Donald Trump’s plans for an additional $100 billion in tariffs against Chinese goods.

China warned on Friday it was fully prepared to respond with a “fierce counter strike” of fresh trade measures if Trump imposes the additional $100 billion in tariffs.

On Friday, China launched a World Trade Organization complaint against the United States, triggering a 60-day deadline for the two countries to settle the matter.

• U.S. President Donald Trump predicted on Sunday that China would take down its trade barriers, expressing optimism despite escalating trade tensions between the world’s two largest economies that have roiled global markets in the past week.

But Trump administration officials have stressed that the tariffs are not yet in place and the dispute could be resolved through talks.

There has been no indication that Trump and Xi have had any conversations since the trade conflict erupted last week and no formal trade talks between the United States and China have been scheduled yet.

• The central Chinese municipality of Chongqing will invest 90.5 billion yuan ($14.28 billion) in transport infrastructure this year as part of a wider national poverty relief drive, said state media on Sunday.

Infrastructure investment is expected to be one of China’s top economic growth drivers in coming years, and the country expects to spend over 2 trillion on projects in 2018.

• China’s foreign exchange reserves rose slightly in March as broad U.S. dollar weakness continued and escalating trade tensions between the world’s two largest economies bolstered expectations of a firmer Chinese currency.

• China has banned the export to North Korea of some items with potential dual use in weapons of mass destruction, the Chinese Ministry of Commerce said in a statement on its website.

The ministry gave details of 32 materials, technologies and forms of equipment with potential use related to weapons of mass destruction, including particle accelerators and centrifuges.

• North Korea has told the United States that it is prepared to discuss denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula when its leader, Kim Jong Un, meets U.S. President Donald Trump.

• Talks to rework the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) are not advanced enough for the United States, Mexico and Canada to announce a deal “in principle” at this month’s Summit of the Americas in Lima, according to two people familiar with matter.

If negotiations continue advancing, a deal might be possible by the end of April or early May, the source said.

• North Korea has told the United States for the first time that it is prepared to discuss the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula when North Korean leader Kim Jong Un meets President Donald Trump, a U.S. official said on Sunday.

• Oil prices fell about 2 percent on Friday after U.S. President Donald Trump threatened new tariffs on China, reigniting fears of a trade war between the world’s two largest economies that could hurt global growth.

Brent crude LCOc1 futures settled down $1.22 at $67.11 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude CLc1 futures fell $1.48 to $62.06 a barrel, a 2.3 percent loss.

Brent crude dropped 2.8 percent in the week while U.S. crude fell 4.4 percent, the biggest weekly decline since early February.

Reference: Reuters, CNBC