· The dollar rose against the yen and the euro on Friday in a choppy session, as worries that a trade deal between the United States and China may not be imminent curtailed risk appetite and boosted safe-haven demand for the greenback.
White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow told CNBC that President Donald Trump has not asked U.S. officials to draw up a proposed trade plan for China, shooting down an earlier report from Bloomberg that Trump had asked officials to draft a possible deal.
On Friday, the dollar was also supported by data that showed U.S. job growth rebounded sharply in October and wages recorded their largest annual gain in 9-1/2 years, which could keep the Federal Reserve on track to raise interest rates in December.
The dollar index .DXY, which tracks the greenback versus the euro, yen, sterling and three other currencies, was up 0.25 percent at 96.519. It hit a 16-month high on Wednesday.
The offshore yuan CNH=D3 was trading at 6.8928 per dollar as of 1914 GMT after surging to a high of 6.8525, its strongest level since Sept. 24.
- U.S. job growth soars; annual wage gain largest since 2009
· U.S. job growth rebounded sharply in October and wages recorded their largest annual gain in 9-1/2 years, pointing to further labor market tightening that could encourage the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates again in December.
The Labor Department’s closely watched monthly employment report on Friday also showed the unemployment rate was steady at a 49-year low of 3.7 percent as 711,000 people entered the labor force, in a sign of confidence in the jobs market.
Nonfarm payrolls increased by 250,000 jobs last month as employment in the leisure and hospitality sector bounced back after being held down by Hurricane Florence, which drenched North and South Carolina in mid-September.
Average hourly earnings rose five cents, or 0.2 percent, in October after advancing 0.3 percent in September. That boosted the annual increase in wages to 3.1 percent, the biggest gain since April 2009, from 2.8 percent in September.
- China says willing to meet U.S. over trade issues on equal footing
China is willing to resolve trade issues with the United States through mutually respectful talks and on an equal footing, said one of the country’s vice commerce ministers Wang Bingnan on Saturday.
Beijing will jointly promote the healthy and stable development of China-U.S. relations, Wang told reporters at a news conference.
· U.S. President Donald Trump said on Friday that he will likely make a deal with China on trade, adding that a lot of progress had been made to resolve the two countries’ differences but warning that he still may impose more tariffs on Chinese goods.
“China very much wants to make a deal,” Trump told reporters in Washington just hours after his top economic adviser expressed caution about talk of a possible U.S.-China trade agreement.
“We’ve had a very good discussions with China, we’re getting much closer to doing something,” Trump said before departing the White House for a campaign event.
· Financial industry lobbyists say they will focus their efforts on moderate Democrats and regulatory agencies if Democrats take control of the House of Representatives after next week’s congressional elections.
The Nov. 6 vote could result in Democratic Representative Maxine Waters, a fierce bank critic, taking over as the next chair of the powerful House Financial Services Committee, which helps set the nation’s financial policy and oversight agenda.
Waters, in a statement to Reuters, said: “I look forward to continuing to work with Members on both sides of the aisle on sensible solutions to benefit hardworking Americans and strengthen our nation’s economy.”
If Democrats take the House by a thin margin, as many polls predict, their majority will rely on moderate Democrats who will want to show voters, and the industry, that they can be productive.
· The U.S. economy is expanding at a 2.9 percent annualized rate in the fourth quarter, following the latest data on trade balance and domestic payrolls, the Atlanta Federal Reserve’s GDPNow forecast model showed on Friday.
This was slower than the 3.0 percent pace for fourth-quarter gross domestic product that Atlanta Fed’s GDP program calculated on Thursday.
· U.S. economy is growing at a 2.61 percent pace in the fourth quarter following this week’s data on payrolls, trade and business activities, the New York Federal Reserve’s Nowcast model showed on Friday.
This was faster than the 2.55 percent clip calculated by N.Y. Fed’s program a week ago.
· Consumer goods companies, emboldened by a strong U.S. economy, are rolling out price increases on everyday products and groceries after several years of haggling with big retailers that needed cheaper products to attract customers.
· The European Union’s executive will publish its quarterly economic forecasts on Thursday for the 28 EU member countries - including Britain, which is due to leave the bloc in March - and for the euro zone as a whole.
Its projections come after Oct. 30 data showed the euro zone economy grew only half as much expected in the third quarter. The preliminary flash estimate of 0.2 percent was also half the 0.4percent seen in Q2 and was the slowest pace of growth in more than four years.
· Oil prices fell about 1 percent on Friday and notched a weekly loss of over 6 percent, as investors worried about oversupply after the United States said it will temporarily spare eight jurisdictions from Iran-related sanctions.
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced the decision in a conference call. The waivers could allow top buyers to keep importing Iranian oil after economic penalties come back into effect on Monday.
Brent crude futures LCOc1 fell 6 cents to settle at $72.83 a barrel. U.S. crude CLc1 declined 55 cents to end the session at $63.14 per barrel, a 0.86 percent loss.
Both contracts have fallen more than 15 percent from the near four-year highs touched in early October on worries the looming Iran sanctions could drain supply from global markets.
· The United States and South Korea will begin small-scale military drills on Monday just days ahead of U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo meeting with a North Korea official to discuss denuclearization and plans for a second summit between the two countries.
Reference: Reuters
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