• The euro slipped on Friday as the dollar recovered following weaker than expected inflation data that appears to have stalled the greenback’s recent rally to 2018highs.
The dollar is still headed for its fourth straight week of gains, although much more modestly this week. The U.S. currency’s recovery has been led by investors unwinding short positions in the belief that the U.S. economy looks relatively strong and that interest rates in the United States will rise while stagnating in other parts of the world.
The dollar index against a basket of major currencies rose 0.1 percent to 92.744 .DXY, down from Wednesday’s 4-1/2-month high of 93.42.
The dollar index is up 0.2 percent this week, less than the more than 1 percent gains it racked up in the previous two weeks.
The euro fell 0.1 percent to $1.1905 EUR= but was off its 2018 lows of $1.1823 hit on Wednesday.
• U.S. President Donald Trump’s hardball approach to Iran is likely to create more tensions in the Middle East, this according to Pippa Malmgren, a leading policy analyst and former White House advisor to President George W. Bush.
Malmgren noted that President Trump is using the same negotiating tactics on Iran by pulling out of the Nuclear Accord as was used on North Korea
• U.S. and Chinese officials are set to meet in Washington on Friday to discuss trade disputes between the world’s two largest economies ahead of a pending visit by China’s top economic official, a U.S. Treasury official said.
The official described the meeting as a follow-up to last week’s high-level trade talks in Beijing and in preparation for Chinese Vice Premier Liu He’s visit to Washington. However, the official declined to provide details of the Friday meetings, or specify the precise timing of Liu’s visit.
• On the heels of a last-minute trade summit in Beijing and in advance of the potential implementation of new tariffs, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said talks with China have made progress, and the country appears open to some of the White House's requests.
"I think they agreed to the concept of a trade deficit reduction — the questions are how much and how do you get there?" Ross told the audience at CNBC's Capital Exchange breakfast on Thursday in Washington.
• Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda said more work needs to be done to boost the country’s growth potential, making a rare call for the government to deliver on its growth strategy - the third arrow of premier Shinzo Abe’s reflationist policies.
The BOJ also agreed with the government on the need to maintain its ultra-loose monetary policy to lift Japan sustainably out of deflation, he said.
• Oil prices dipped on Friday, easing from multi-year highs in the previous session on hopes that alternative supplies could replace a looming drop in Iranian exports from U.S. sanctions.
Brent crude futures were at $77.23 per barrel at 0705 GMT, down 24 cents, or 0.3 percent, from their last close. Brent the previous day hit its highest since November2014 at $78 a barrel.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were down 15 cents, or 0.2 percent, at $71.21 a barrel after hitting a November 2014 high of $71.89 per barrel on Thursday.
Reference: Reuters, CNBC
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