· The euro jumped more than a half cent on Friday after European Union leaders reached an agreement on migration, a thorny issue that has threatened EU unity and the fate of German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
Still, the dollar index is on course to make its first quarterly gain in six while the Chinese yuan looks set to post its biggest fall for a month as traders increasingly worry about the impact of Sino-U.S. trade disputes.
The euro rose as high as $1.1650 (EUR=), extending its recovery from the one-week low of $1.15275 touched on Thursday, after EU leaders reached the deal on migration.
The yen fell 0.25 percent to 110.75 to the dollar while Australian dollar rose 0.3 percent to $0.7376.
The dollar index against a basket of six major currencies (DXY) (=USD) stood down 0.5 percent at 94.936 after having risen to as high as 95.534 on Thursday, a level last seen almost a year ago.
One notable currency that has weakened against the dollar is China's yuan , which fell to a 7 1/2-month low of 6.6441 on Friday.
· European leaders reached a deal on migration in the early hours of Friday after tense and lengthy talks, but the pledges made to strengthen borders were vague and a bleary-eyed German Chancellor Angela Merkel conceded differences remained.
· European Union leaders agreed on Friday to extend their economic sanctions against Russia for annexing Crimea from Kiev and backing rebels fighting government troops in east Ukraine, an EU official said.
The decision, which will be formally confirmed in the coming days, will prolong EU’s curbs on doing business with Russian banking, financial and energy sectors for six months until the end of January.
· China unveiled on Thursday a long-anticipated easing of foreign investment curbs on sectors including banking, the automotive and heavy industries, and agriculture as Beijing moved to fulfill its promise to open its markets further.
The National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), China’s top economic planner, published on its website a new version of the so-called negative list that sets out industries where foreign investment is limited or prohibited. The new list will take effect on July 28.
The number of items on the negative list was cut to 48 from 63 in the previous version published in June last ye
· Oil prices dipped on Friday amid escalating trade disputes between the United States and other major economies, although crude markets remain tight due to supply disruptions, high demand, and the looming U.S. sanctions against Iran.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures CLc1 were at $73.18 a barrel at 0708 GMT, down 26 cents, or 0.4 percent, from their last settlement. WTI on Thursday hit its highest since November 2014 at $74.03 per barrel.
Brent crude futures LCOc1 were at $77.69 per barrel, down 16 cents, or 0.2 percent.
· Japanese refiners are ramping up purchases of U.S. crude as it becomes cheaper relative to their usual Middle East supplies and are assessing heavy grades from U.S. shale production as a replacement for supplies from Iran, industry sources said.
Nearly 4 million barrels of U.S. crude are due to arrive in Japan, the world’s fourth biggest oil importer, between June and September, according to the sources and Thomson Reuters Eikon shipping data.
· WTI oil is consolidating under new high at $73.04 (the highest since Nov 2014) on Thursday, taking a breather after steep five-day rally fully retraced $72.89/$63.58 correction leg and signaled continuation of larger uptrend from $26.04 (Feb 2016 low).
Oil maintains strong bullish momentum which could drive the price higher. Close above previous high at $72.89 is seen as initial requirement as Wednesday’s spike to new high at $73.04 was short-lived and failed to close above $72.89 pivot at initial attempt.
Sustained break above $72.89 would open $74.94 (04 Oct 2011 low) and could challenge next key barrier at $76.35 (Fibo 61.8% of $107.45/$26.04 2014/2016 fall in extension, break of which would expose psychological $80 barrier.
Reference: Reuters, CNBC, DailyFX
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