· The dollar slipped back from three-week highs against the yen on Thursday, quickly erasing gains made after the Federal Reserve took a slightly more hawkish policy tone in signalling two more rate hikes by year-end.
The greenback’s bounce faded as traders booked profits before the European Central Bank’s meeting later on Thursday, where policymakers are seen discussing the timing of winding down the ECB’s 2.55 trillion euro bond-purchase program.
The dollar last traded at 110.19 yen , down 0.15 percent, having lost steam after hitting a three-week peak of 110.85 shortly after the Fed’s latest policy statement, which saw a solid outlook for the world’s biggest economy.
The euro nudged up 0.1 percent to $1.1802 , bouncing back from $1.1725 hit after the Fed’s announcements and edging near last week’s high of $1.1840.
The dollar index against a basket of six major currencies dipped 0.2 percent to 93.525 after briefly rising to 94.028 on Wednesday.
· That is the takeaway from strategists who expect that European Central Bank (ECB) president Mario Draghi will announce today an end to the institution's asset-purchase programme as the immediate risks surrounding Italian politics subside.
Analysts have become more bullish on the euro following recent hawkish comments from ECB officials, with Credit Agricole forecasting that the shared currency will climb 7 per cent to US$1.26 by the year end. Money market pricing indicates interest rates will rise 15 basis points in September next year.
· China on Thursday said it upholds using talks to resolve trade disputes with the United States, as President Donald Trump is set to meet with his top trade advisors to decide whether to activate tariffs on billions of dollars of Chinese goods.
China’s foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang made the statement at a regular briefing and reiterated Beijing’s previous position that existing trade agreements between the two countries would be voided if the tariffs were enacted.
· China's housing sales in May were helped by strength in smaller Chinese cities and supportive policies to attract skilled job seekers.
Housing sales by value for the January-May period rose 12.8% from a year earlier, according to data released Thursday by the National Bureau of Statistics. That compared with a 9.5% gain in the first four months of the year.
Housing sales in May rose 23% from a year earlier, based on calculations made by The Wall Street Journal. That compared with April's rise of 5.3% from a year ago.
· Beijing is surely watching closely as a deadline for proposed American tariffs on China draws near, but any concern has been blunted by just how well the Chinese economy has been doing in recent months.
The U.S. is due by Friday to release the final list of products subject to the 25 percent levies the White House announced last month on $50 billion in imports. U.S. President Donald Trump is trying to bring down a $375 billion annual trade deficit with China, and he's using the threat of a trade war to force concessions from Beijing.
· Tough sanctions will remain on North Korea until its complete denuclearisation, the U.S. secretary of state said on Thursday, apparently contradicting the North’s view that the process agreed at this week’s summit would be phased and reciprocal.U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un issued a joint statement after their Singapore meeting that reaffirmed the North’s commitment to “work toward complete denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula”, an end to joint U.S.-South Korean military exercises and gave U.S. guarantees of security to North Korea.
· North and South Korea held military talks for the first time in more than a decade on Thursday, as two-star generals from both sides met just two days after U.S. President Donald Trump floated his plan to halt joint exercises with South Korea.
· Oil prices eased on Thursday, dragged down by rising output and a decline in China’s refining activity, although strong fuel consumption in the United States and a drop in its crude inventories provided some support.
Brent crude futures LCOc1 were at $76.45 per barrel by 0610 GMT, down 29 cents, or 0.4 percent, from their last close.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures CLc1 were at $66.57 a barrel, down 7 cents from their last settlement.
Reference: Reuters
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