The .S. dollar index which tracks the greenback against a basket of its peers was trading at 94.60, down 0.01% by 1:30AM ET (05:30 GMT), following its overnight rally on the back of economic policy uncertainty in Italy.
Meanwhile, the USD/CNY pair last traded at 6.8849, down 0.09%, as the People's Bank of China (PBOC) set the yuan reference rate at 6.8792 vs the previous day's fix of 6.8642.
The Aussie dollar rose 0.1% against the dollar as traders awaited October’s monetary policy decision from the Reserve Bank of Australia due next Tuesday. Retail sales data and PMI are also due next week.
· The euro fell to an eleven-day low on Friday after Italy’s government agreed a budget overnight seen by some investors as defying Brussels.
The euro on Friday fell 0.2 percent to $1.1615 after slumping almost 0.9 percent overnight. Versus the Swiss franc it traded at 1.1347, near a one month low of 1.1415
Markets will now turn to euro zone preliminary inflation data due later in the day to see if they can support ECB President Draghi’s views on prices. The annual inflation rate is expected to rise to 2.1 percent, according to a Reuters poll.
· Italy’s government on Thursday targeted the budget deficit at 2.4 percent of gross domestic product for the next three years, defying Brussels and marking a victory for party chiefs over economy minister Giovanni Tria, an unaffiliated technocrat
Italy’s new budget expects debt to fall in terms of gross domestic output in 2019, a prominent lawmaker of the League ruling party said on Friday.
Alberto Bagnai, chairman of the Finance committee of the Upper House, also said that markets have already discounted the higher deficit-GDP targets set by the populist government in the new budget.
The Italian president called the Economy Minister on Thursday to ask him not to resign after the government targeted a budget deficit of 2.4 percent for the next three years, several newspapers said.
The papers said President Sergio Mattarella had asked Giovanni Tria to stay on to avoid market uncertainty.
· Britons would vote 52 to 48 percent in favor of remaining in the European Union were there to be another Brexit referendum, showing only a small change in public opinion since the 2016 vote, according to a poll of polls.
· Former British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson called on Prime Minister Theresa May to rip up her Brexit proposals, ratcheting up the pressure on May as she prepares to face her divided party at its annual conference in two days time.
Just six months before the United Kingdom is due to leave the European Union on March 29, 2019, little is clear: PM May has yet to clinch a Brexit divorce deal with the EU and rebels in her party have threatened to vote down any deal she makes.
· The European Union will wait until November before kicking off full-blown preparations for a possible collapse of Brexit talks, diplomats said, reluctantly accepting that such a scenario would still require some managing.
· Oil prices inched up on Friday, with investors trying to gauge the potential impact on supply from looming sanctions by the United States on Iran’s crude exports.
The most-active Brent crude futures contract, for December,LCOZ8 was up 15 cents, or 0.2 percent, at $81.53 per barrel at 0548 GMT.
U.S West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures CLc1 were up 19 cents, or 0.3 percent, at $72.32 per barrel. It is set to gain rose 3.6 percent this month, the biggest increase since June.
Reference: Reuters, CNBC
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