The dollar index, a gauge of its value versus six major peers, traded marginally lower at 96.76 in Asian trade. The index lost 0.54percent on Wednesday, its steepest percentage decline since Nov. 1.
Traders may be cautious of building aggressive short positions, given the G20 summit on Friday and Saturday where U.S. President Donald Trump and China’s President Xi Jinping are scheduled to discuss contentious trade matters.
At 0436 GMT Thursday, the dollar was down 0.4 percent versus the yen to trade at 113.25. But analysts expect interest rate differentials between the U.S. and Japan to support the dollar/yen in the next couple months.
The euro changed hands at $1.1377, gaining 0.1 percent on Thursday. The single currency gained 0.7 percent in the previous session thanks to dollar weakness.
Sterling traded marginally higher at $1.2843. Investors expect the pound to remain under pressure as traders bet that British Prime Minister Theresa
· A no-deal Brexit would jeopardize security co-operation with the European Union, Britain’s security minister Ben Wallace will say on Thursday.
· Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump are scheduled to meet for talks at 1430 GMT on Dec. 1 on the sidelines of the G20 in Argentina, a Kremlin document seen by Reuters on Thursday showed.
· U.S. President Donald Trump may be unhappy with Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, but he has no authority to remove the central bank head from office, Morgan Stanley said.
Trump renewed his criticisms of Powell earlier this week, blaming the Fed chair for the recent market sell-off and automaker General Motors' plans to close plants and cut jobs.
Morgan Stanley has warned of higher car prices following signs of further escalation in the U.S.-China trade war.
U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer announced Wednesday that he was examining ways to raise duties on Chinese vehicles to 40 percent, which is the tax that Beijing now levies on American-made cars. Such tensions are likely to hurt both auto consumers and manufacturers, Adam Jones, Morgan Stanley's chief U.S. auto analyst, told CNBC's Sri Jegarajah on Thursday.
· “Equities gained as Powell hinted of implementing fewer rate hikes when the economy is still doing well,” said Masafumi Yamamoto, chief forex strategist at Mizuho Securities in Tokyo.
“The likelihood of slower U.S. monetary tightening caused the dollar to slump against currencies, particularly the euro, which could soon benefit from an ECB rate hike.”
· The US Senate has advanced a measure that would cut US military support for the Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen, in defiance of the Trump administration’s stance on relations with Saudi Arabia.
The move, from the Republican-dominated chamber, was passed 63-37 – despite the Trump administration sending two of its “biggest guns” to brief the entire Senate on the “essential importance to US national security of US support for the Saudi-led coalition”, according to The Guardian.
· China is hoping for “positive results” at a G20 summit in Argentina, the commerce ministry said on Thursday, ahead of a closely watched meeting between Chinese and U.S. leaders.
U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping are due to hold trade talks on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Buenos Aires this weekend.
· · Oil prices edged up on Thursday on optimism that trade talks at the upcoming G20 meeting could help the global economy and improve demand, but gains were curbed after U.S. crude inventories hit their highest in a year.
U.S. crude futures CLc1 had risen 20 cents, or 0.4 percent, to $50.49 per barrel by 0737 GMT. The market ended the previous session down 2.5 percent at $50.29 a barrel, after marking its lowest since early October last year.
International benchmark Brent crude LCOc1 gained 6 cents, or 0.1 percent, to $58.82 a barrel, having dropped 2.4 percent on Wednesday to $58.76 a barrel.
Reference: Reuters, CNBC
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