• The U.S. dollar edged lower against the euro and fell to the lowest in nearly three weeks against the risk-sensitive Aussie on Wednesday, as worries over a trade row between China and the United States eased.
Despite its weaker tone on Wednesday, some market participants still see strength for the dollar.
Investors were also awaiting next week’s Federal Reserve meeting. The U.S. central bank is expected to raise benchmark interest rates and shed light on the path for future rate hikes.
• The ICE U.S. Dollar Index DXY, -0.04% was down 0.1% at 94.538, having remained in the same range for most of Wednesday’s session. The gauge is on track for a 0.4% loss for the week, according to FactSet.
• The British pound GBPUSD, +0.0152% had a volatile day on Wednesday, starting off on a stronger note and rising to a high of $1.3214 following higher-than-expected consumer price inflation numbers.
The pound last bought $1.3146, compared with $1.3147 late Tuesday in New York. The euro EURUSD, +0.0857% , meanwhile, rose to $1.1674 against the dollar versus $1.1670, and £0.8884against the pound EURGBP, +0.0788% compared with £0.8876.
• President Donald Trump on Wednesday stepped up his defense of his U.S. Supreme Court nominee, saying it was hard to imagine Brett Kavanaugh committed a sexual assault and that it would be unfortunate if his accuser did not testify before the Senate.
With Trump’s effort to cement conservative control of the nation’s highest court on a knife’s edge, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley set a Friday morning deadline for Christine Blasey Ford to decide if she will talk to lawmakers.
Ford, a psychology professor at Palo Alto University in California, has said Kavanaugh, a federal appeals court judge, sexually assaulted her in 1982 when both were high school students in Maryland. Kavanaugh has called Ford’s allegation “completely false.”
• U.S. President Donald Trump intends to nominate former Federal Reserve economist Nellie Liang to the U.S. central bank’s board of governors, the White House said on Wednesday.
Earlier, two White House officials speaking on condition of anonymity told Reuters that Liang has a strong background on financial and monetary stability, including crisis response, and is considered a good fit for the Fed board.
• U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said he had invited North Korea’s foreign minister to meet in New York next week, with the aim of completing its denuclearization by January 2021, after a Pyongyang summit between the leaders of the two Koreas.
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said he had invited North Korea’s foreign minister to meet in New York next week, with the aim of completing its denuclearization by January 2021, after a Pyongyang summit between the leaders of the two Koreas.
• Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Wednesday he wanted to see flexibility from the United States if the two sides are to reach a deal on renewing NAFTA, which Washington insists must be finished by the end of the month.
Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland met U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer for their fourth set of talks in four weeks in Washington with the two sides still disagreeing on major issues.
• German Chancellor Angela Merkel called on Wednesday for friendliness and respect in the negotiations between Britain and the European Union, seeking close ties after Brexit.
• European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said on Wednesday that a Brexit deal with Britain was still “far away”, an EU official said.
Officials on both sides say much of a withdrawal treaty is complete but there remain serious differences over trade terms and the Irish border which European Union officials have said could still lead to the talks breaking down altogether.
• Prime Minister Theresa May appealed directly to fellow European leaders on Wednesday to drop “unacceptable” Brexit demands that she said could rip Britain apart, and urged the bloc to respond in kind to her “serious and workable” plan.
Over Wiener schnitzel in Salzburg, May tried to win over the leaders of the European Union by effectively asking them what they would do if they were asked to agree a “legal separation” of their countries — something she says the EU is asking for by insisting Northern Ireland might stay under EU economic rules.
• Brazil’s central bank on Wednesday held interest rates at an all-time low but said it could gradually raise them if the outlook worsens, highlighting how the upcoming presidential vote is increasingly weighing on monetary policy.
Concern about the elections has already helped depress the Brazilian real BRBY to near record lows and could soon trigger the first interest rate rise in three years depending on the result.
• U.S. oil futures surged nearly 2 percent on Wednesday as they were bolstered by a fifth weekly crude inventory drawdown and strong domestic gasoline demand amid ongoing global supply concerns over U.S. sanctions on Iran that come into force in November.
U.S. crude inventories fell 2.1 million barrels last week to 394.1 million barrels, the lowest level since February 2015, government data showed. Gasoline stocks fell 1.7 million barrels versus forecasts for a 100,000-barrel drop. [EIA/S]
U.S. crude futures CLc1 settled up $1.27, or 1.8 percent, at $71.12 a barrel.
Brent futures LCOc1 also rose but the gains were more muted, as the global benchmark ended 37 cents, or 0.5 percent, higher at $79.40 a barrel.
Reference: Reuters, Market Watch
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