The dollar index against a group of six major currencies was flat at 89.633 .DXY after edging up 0.1 percent on Wednesday.
The U.S. currency gained 0.15 percent to 107.410 yen JPY=, adding to the previous day's modest gains.
The dollar’s gains were limited given the scope of the rise by the 10-year Treasury note yield US10YT=RR, which climbed more than 5 basis points overnight for its biggest one-day surge since March 2.
The euro inched up 0.07 percent to $1.2383 EUR= after eking out small gains the previous day.
· Yields on U.S. two-year Treasuries stood at levels last visited in 2008 at 2.43 percent.
· The closing gap between short- and long-term interest rates is not pointing toward a recession, Federal Reserve Vice Chair for Supervision Randal Quarles said on Tuesday.
“I’m not viewing the current flattening of the yield curve as much of a signal toward an impending recession,” Quarles told an event at the semi-annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank. “Obviously its something that we are looking at.”
· Global debt hit its highest levels ever and governments should take actions to reduce their indebtedness while the going is still good, the International Monetary Fund said.
Total debt levels globally came in at a record $164 trillion in 2016, amounting to 225 percent of the world economy's gross domestic product, according to the IMF's April Fiscal Monitor. That level of debt was 12 percentage points steeper than the last historic high seen in 2009 immediately after the global financial crisis.
Meanwhile, debt in advanced economies far exceeded debt levels in emerging markets, the IMF said. According to its latest report, average debt for advanced economies stood at 105 percent of GDP.
For middle-income economies, debt was around 50 percent of GDP on average, while debt for low-income countries, which have been experiencing rising average debt-to-GDP ratios, came in above 40 percent last year, the IMF stated.
Gaspar said the IMF has forecast that public debt-to-GDP ratios for advanced economies, with the exception of the U.S., are expected to decline in the period ending in 2023.
"The United States is the only country where the public debt-to-GDP ratio is forecast to go up, from 108 percent of GDP in 2017 to 117 percent in 2023," Gaspar added, attributing the rise to the spending plan passed by Congress and recent tax cuts.
· China is well prepared to handle any negative effects from its trade dispute with the United States, the commerce ministry said on Thursday, adding that China's tariff hikes on U.S. imports will not have a big impact overall on its domestic industries.
· Most analysts believe the two sides will eventually reach a compromise and avoid a full-blown trade war. But so far, China and the U.S. have held no formal trade talk.
· The global economy will expand this year at its fastest pace since 2010, but trade protectionism could quickly slow it down, the latest Reuters polls of over 500 economists worldwide suggest.
The risk of a trade war between the United States and China threatens to curb the economic momentum created by years of policy stimulus. That was the biggest worry of economists, foreign exchange and bond market strategists polled by Reuters [POLL/].
In the latest global economic survey, three-quarters of over 250 economists said they were concerned the U.S.-China trade war would significantly damage the global economy. Twenty-three respondents who said they were very concerned.
· Emerging markets look like they could be at the losing end when the U.S. Federal Reserve raises interest rates and when oil prices climb, but there are still enough reasons to invest in bonds from developing countries, Bank of Singapore said Thursday.
Rising interest rates make it harder for governments and companies in emerging markets to service their debt, especially those denominated in the U.S. dollar. Such a situation could result in investors pulling out of developing countries to seek higher returns in the U.S.
· Oil prices rose on Thursday to their highest in over three years as U.S. crude inventories declined and as top exporter Saudi Arabia pushes for higher prices by continuing to withhold supplies.
Brent crude oil futures LCOc1 rallied as high as $74.02 a barrel, the strongest since Nov. 27, 2014, and were at $73.87 per barrel at 0645 GMT, up 39 cents, or 0.5 percent, from their last close.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures CLc1 added 28 cents, or 0.4 percent, to $68.75 a barrel. WTI had earlier scaled to $68.95, its best level since Dec. 2, 2014.
Reference: Reuters, CNBC
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