• The dollar fell for a third day on Friday against a basket of currencies as traders booked gains on its recent run-up spurred by the widening interest rate gaps in favor of the United States and signs of cooling growth in the rest of the world.
An index that tracks the dollar versus six currencies .DXY rose initially before selling re-emerged. It was down 0.15 percent at 92.603, below its strongest level of the year at 93.416 on Wednesday.
• The dollar index posted a slim 0.04 percent loss on the week in late trading, following three straight weeks of gains.
The euro scored a 0.3 percent gain at $1.1946 EUR.
• St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank President James Bullard on Friday spelled out the case against any further interest rate increases, saying rates may already have reached a “neutral” level that is no longer stimulating the economy.
Continuing to raise rates as his colleagues intend, he said, risks nipping business investment that might follow the recent corporate tax cut, upset healthy conditions in the labor market, and leave inflation expectations short of the central bank’s goal.
“We should be opening the champagne here,” not raising interest rates with unemployment low and inflation in no seeming danger of accelerating, Bullard said in remarks to the Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce in Springfield, Mo. “The economy is operating quite well right now.”
• U.S. President Donald Trump said on Saturday that Congress must have a deal to fund the federal government before the summer break in August or lawmakers would have to stay in Washington.
In a tweet, Trump also said the funding bill should include money to build a wall on the border with Mexico.
• The United States threatened on Sunday to impose sanctions on European companies that do business with Iran, as the remaining participants in the Iran nuclear accord stiffened their resolve to keep that agreement operational.
White House national security adviser John Bolton said U.S. sanctions on European companies that maintain business dealings with Iran were “possible,” while Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said he remained hopeful Washington and its allies could strike a new nuclear deal with Tehran.
• Germany wants to help its companies continue doing business in Iran after the U.S. decision to reimpose sanctions against Tehran, but it could be difficult to shield them from any fallout, Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said on Sunday.
• Europe needs to do more to end the war in Syria, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Saturday as she received a peace award from Franciscan monks in the birthplace of St. Francis.
• French President Emmanuel Macron told U.S. President Donald Trump in a phone conversation on Saturday that he was extremely worried about stability in the Middle East, Macron’s office said.
• The Trump administration plans to kill a project it says would have cost tens of billions of dollars to convert plutonium from Cold War-era nuclear bombs and burn it to generate electricity, according to a document it sent to Congress last week.
• North Korea has scheduled the dismantlement of its nuclear bomb test site for sometime between May 23 and 25 in order to uphold its pledge to discontinue nuclear tests, the country’s state media reported on Saturday a month ahead of a historic summit.
The official Korean Central New Agency said dismantlement of the Punggye-ri nuclear test ground would involve collapsing all of its tunnels with explosions, blocking its entrances, and removing all observation facilities, research buildings and security posts.
U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un will hold talks in Singapore on June 12, the first-ever meeting between a sitting U.S. president and a North Korean leader.
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Sunday that Washington would agree to lift sanctions on North Korea if the country agrees to completely dismantle its nuclear weapons program, a move that would create economic prosperity that “will rival” that of South Korea.
• South Korea welcomes North Korea’s schedule to dismantle its nuclear test site ahead of a historic summit between the North and the United States, the South’s presidential office said on Sunday.
“This shows they are willing to keep their promise made at the inter-Korean summit through action beyond words,” Blue House spokesman Kim Eui-kyeom told a media briefing. North and South Korea held a separate summit in late April.
• U.S. President Donald Trump said on Sunday on Sunday he will help Chinese technology company ZTE Corp "get back into business, fast," after being crippled by a U.S. ban, a concession to Beijing ahead of high-stakes trade talks this week.
• Senior American, Canadian and Mexican officials on Friday ended a week of talks without a deal to modernize NAFTA, agreeing instead to resume negotiations soon, ahead of a deadline next week issued by U.S House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan.
• U.S. President Donald Trump spoke by phone on Friday with British Prime Minister Theresa May and the two leaders condemned Iran’s rocket attacks on Israel from Syria, the White House said in a statement.
British Prime Minister Theresa May and U.S. President Donald Trump agreed in a phone call on Friday that talks were needed to discuss how U.S sanctions on Iran would affect foreign companies operating in the country.
The spokeswoman said May had told Trump that Britain and its European partners remained “firmly committed” to ensuring the deal was upheld as the best way to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon. Iran says its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes only.
• Britain may lose its influence on EU security and defence policy after it leaves the European Union, according to a parliamentary report on Monday which urges the government to put forward proposals for future co-operation.
EU common security operations contribute significantly to Britain’s foreign policy priorities, the report from the House of Lords EU External Affairs Sub-Committee said.
“Post-Brexit, the UK may be able to continue participating in them, but it will not have the influence it currently enjoys in the development, planning and leadership of missions and operations,” it added.
• A June summit of European Union leaders is the “ultimate deadline” to make progress on issues related to Northern Ireland’s border, French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said on Sunday.
Brexit minister David Davis told a British parliamentary committee in April that an EU demand for progress by June on the Irish border issue, a major sticking point in Brexit talks, was an “artificial deadline.”
• Crude prices fell in a see-saw session on Friday, retreating after early gains as it looked likely that U.S. allies would push to maintain a deal with Iran, which could keep that country’s crude exports on global markets.
Brent crude LCOc1 settled down 35 cents at $77.12 a barrel, just below the $78-level hit on Thursday, its highest since November 2014. The benchmark contract remained lower in post-settlement trade.
U.S. light crude CLc1 was down 66 cents at $70.70, off a 3-1/2 year high of $71.89 it hit on Thursday.
• Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh said on Thursday that Trump's decision to quit a multinational nuclear deal would not affect Tehran's oil exports.
Reference: Reuters, CNBC
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