• The dollar rose on Friday, posting its biggest weekly percentage increase in a month, as risk appetite declined and investors sought the currency’s safety following a steep drop in oil prices that suggested global growth is slowing.
In afternoon trading, the dollar index was up 0.3 percent at 96.959. It has gained in five of the last six sessions.
The dollar’s near-term outlook, however, has dimmed a little bit as some of the recent U.S. economic numbers have come in weaker than expected and several Federal Reserve officials have struck a cautious tone on the economy. All told, investors increasingly believe the Fed may be nearing the end of its tightening cycle.
That said, Jane Foley, senior FX strategist at Rabobank in London, believes the dollar will still find decent support as investors are likely to remain cautious on emerging market assets.
The euro, on the other, fell to a one-week low on signs economic growth could be slowing across the euro zone, with worries about Brexit and Italy’s budget negotiations also weighing on the single currency.
Business growth in the euro zone slowed much more quickly than expected this month, a Purchasing Managers Index survey showed. After German private-sector growth slowed to its lowest level in nearly four years, the euro dropped into negative territory and was last down 0.7 percent at $1.1329 .
In other currency trading, the yen rose broadly on fears about the implications of lower oil prices on global growth.
The dollar slipped 0.1 percent against the yen to 112.86 yen, while the euro tumbled 0.7 percent to 127.86 yen.
• European Union leaders finally sealed a Brexit deal on Sunday, saying the package agreed with Prime Minister Theresa May was the best Britain will get in a warning to the British parliament not to reject it.
“Those who think that, by rejecting the deal, they would get a better deal, will be disappointed,” European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker told reporters after the 27 other EU leaders formally endorsed a treaty setting terms for British withdrawal in March and an outline of a future EU-UK trade pact.
• Prime Minister Theresa May will tell lawmakers on Monday they face a stark choice - either back the deal she negotiated to leave the European Union or reject it and take Britain “back to square one” with “more division and more uncertainty”.
Agreeing a Brexit deal with the European Union may have been the easy part for British Prime Minister Theresa May. Getting it through a divided parliament at home could be an altogether tougher battle.
The European Union has no plan to address a possible rejection of Sunday’s Brexit deal in the British parliament other than its current planning for Britain leaving without a deal, a senior EU official said.
The official added that those no-deal preparations were not discussed by leaders on Sunday and nor was there any discussion among the leaders or with British Prime Minister Theresa May of “what if” questions relating to the British parliamentary vote, expected to take place days before an EU summit on Dec. 13-14.
• Italy and the European Commission will work in the coming days to bring closer their positions on Italy’s 2019 draft budget, which the EU executive says breaks EU laws by not reducing the country’s huge public debt.
European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker met on Saturday evening with Italy’s Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte to discuss the budget on the eve of an EU summit set to approve the terms of Britain’s withdrawal from the bloc.
• China’s economic growth is expected to hit 6.6 percent this year and slow to 6.3 percent in 2019 as the country struggles with challenges relating to trade and structural reform, economists from Beijing’s Renmin University said in a report.
The predictions, published by the news service of the China Academy of Social Sciences late on Saturday, are in line with the median forecast in a poll of 73 economists by Reuters last month, with China under increasing pressure from a trade war with the United States.
• Oil prices plunged to their lowest levels in more than a year on Friday, deepening a rapid seven-week-sell-off that has plunged crude futures deep into a bear market amid growing worries of an oversupply.
U.S. benchmark West Texas Intermediate crude ended Friday's session down $4.21, or 7.7 percent, at $50.42. WTI hit its weakest price since mid-October 2017 on Friday.
International benchmark Brent crude dropped $3.66, or 5.9 percent, to $58.94 by 1:34 p.m. ET. The contract hit its lowest level since late October 2017.
Oil prices remained weak Monday morning during Asian hours. U.S. crude futures gained 0.06 percent at $50.45 per barrel while Brent was up 0.54 percent at $59.12 per barrel.
Reference: Reuters, CNBC