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·         Lower-level trade talks between U.S. and Chinese officials will take place on August 22 and 23, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday, just before $16 billion in new U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods take effect, along with an equal amount of retaliatory tariffs from Beijing. The offering financial markets hope that the globe’s two largest economies could end trade tensions.

·         The U.S. dollar slipped below a 13-1/2 month peak on Thursday, while the Chinese yuan recovered from its weakest level since January 2017 on news China and the United States will hold a new round of trade talks later this month.

The ICE index that tracks the greenback against six major currencies .DXY fell as much 0.4 percent before ending 0.06 percent lower on the day at96.637. It reached 96.984 on Wednesday, which was the highest since June 2017.

The yuan in offshore trading CNH=EBS gained 1.1 percent to 6.8714 per dollar, rebounding from Wednesday's 6.9587, its weakest level since Jan. 4,2017, EBS data showed.

Turkey's lira rose for a third straight day, gaining 2.4 percent to 5.8101 TRYTOM=D3 after Finance Minister Berat Albayrak's presentation to assure international investors.

The lira's bounce on Thursday helped boost the Brazilian real BRL= and Mexican peso MXN=D2 but did little for the Indian rupee INR= and South African rand ZAR=.

The euro EUR=EBS was up over 0.1 percent at $1.13575, edging up from a 13-month low of $1.13010 set on Wednesday.

·         Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell is scheduled to speak next Friday, Aug. 24, at the annual global central bank conference in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, the Fed said on Thursday.

He will speak on monetary policy in a changing economy at the start of the two-day conference, according to the notice from the Fed. Fed chairs in the past have used speeches at the Kansas Fed-sponsored conference to signal future U.S. central bank policy moves.

·         Leaders from both parties on a powerful Senate committee vowed on Thursday to push back if President Donald Trump moves ahead with plans to bypass Congress and roll back billions of dollars from the U.S. foreign aid budget, including funds for programs in Syria and the West Bank and Gaza.

·         China’s military has expanded its bomber operations in recent years while “likely training for strikes” against the United States and its allies, a Pentagon report released on Thursday said.

·         Hackers operating from an elite Chinese university probed American companies and government departments for espionage opportunities following a U.S. trade delegation visit to China earlier this year, security researchers told Reuters.

·         The United States warned Turkey on Thursday to expect more economic sanctions unless it hands over detained American pastor Andrew Brunson, as relations between the two countries took a further turn for the worse.

·         U.S. President Donald Trump’s national security adviser John Bolton will discuss arms control treaties and Iran’s role in Syria in talks with Russian counterpart Nikolai Patrushev in Geneva next week, an administration official said on Thursday.

·         A military parade requested by U.S. President Donald Trump could cost more than $90 million, a U.S. official said, citing provisional planning figures, nearly three times an earlier White House estimate.

A military parade requested by U.S. President Donald Trump that had been planned for November in Washington has been postponed until at least next year, the Defense Department said on Thursday.

A U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said it was unclear exactly what caused the postponement but the increased cost of the event had caused concern and could be one reason.

·         Business confidence among Japanese manufacturers was at its highest in seven months in August thanks to a firm global economy, a Reuters poll showed on Friday, but the service sector’s mood hit its lowest since 2016, casting doubt on the robustness of domestic demand.

·         Oil rose slightly as global markets steadied on Thursday, recovering some of the previous day’s 2 percent slide, though a weakening outlook for crude demand kept prices in check.

Brent crude oil futures LCOc1 settled 67 cents higher at $71.43 a barrel, while U.S. crude futures CLc1 rose 45 cents to $65.46 a barrel.

 

Reference: Reuters