· The dollar index on Friday was flat as investor appetite for risk hurt safe-haven currencies and after U.S. inflation data came in weaker than expected, adding to the conviction that the country's economy is losing momentum.
U.S. consumer spending rebounded less than expected in January amid muted price pressures, as measured by the Personal Consumption Expenditure index (PCE), the Federal Reserve's preferred measure of inflation, according to the Commerce Department, which also reported that incomes rose modestly in February. Consumer spending accounts for more than two-thirds of American economic activity.
The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of its peers, was at 97.248 after touching lows below 96.6 last week.
The euro was a tad higher at $1.122 but remained down about 1.2 percent for the month.
· Sterling last traded 0.27 percent lower at $1.30 ahead of a crucial parliamentary vote on Prime Minister Theresa May's deal to withdraw Britain from the European Union.
Although it does not appear that May has the votes to pass her twice-defeated Brexit deal, markets have begun to price in a long delay in the proceedings, Anderson said, which is boosting both sterling and risk assets.
A surprise improvement in Chinese factory activity supported the yuan and Australian dollar on Monday, and provided a broader boost to global investor confidence, helping the dollar gain against the safe-haven yen.
· Factory activity in China unexpectedly grew for the first time in four months in March, an official survey showed on Sunday, a sign government stimulus may be starting to take hold in the world's second largest economy.
The official Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) rose to 50.5 in March from February's three-year low of 49.2, beating economists' median forecast of 49.5.
That pushed the Australian dollar, often seen as an investment proxy for Chinese economic prospects, 0.15 percent higher to $0.7107.
The Chinese yuan also gained 0.2 percent in offshore trade to 6.711 to the dollar.
· U.S. government debt yields rose on Friday as traders monitor US-China trade talks.
At around 1:26 a.m. ET, the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note, which moves inversely to price, was higher at around 2.414 percent, while the yield on the 30-year Treasury bond was also higher at 2.82 percent. The yield on the 3-month Treasury bill held at 2.408 percent.
· The U.S. and China resumed their trade talks this week – seen as a positive sign for many
investors, as they believe that a deal could be imminent. "The talks will conclude. They have to," Max Baucus, former U.S. ambassador to China, told CNBC's Martin Soong at the Boao Forum for Asia.
· Chinese and U.S. negotiators made “new progress” in trade negotiations as both sides discussed the wording of an agreement that’s designed to resolve a bilateral trade dispute, according to Beijing’s official news agency Xinhua
In a tweet, Mnuchin called the talks “constructive” and confirmed Chinese Vice Premier Liu He is due in Washington next week. Speaking Friday afternoon on CNBC Television, White House chief economic adviser Larry Kudlow said the two sides made “good headway” and U.S. negotiators were probably on their flight back to Washington.
· Global growth fears may soon loosen their hold on the U.S. stock market, says PNC's Jeff Mills.
"I think, as we move into the second half of the year, this narrative of global growth potentially causing problems here in the U.S. is going to shift to a stabilization of global growth and then more of a focus on things like earnings," Mills told CNBC's "Futures Now" on Thursday.
Mills, who is co-chief investment strategist at PNC Financial Services Group, wasn't as fazed by last week's yield curve inversion as most of Wall Street was. Shorter-term Treasury yields crossing above their longer-term counterparts is widely seen as a sign of an oncoming recession.
· Theresa May is struggling to hold the Tory party together amid a breakdown of trust among senior advisers and cabinet ministers as parliament seeks on Monday to decide on its own rival version of Brexit.
The British prime minister will face a renewed attempt by backbench MPs to find a Commons majority for a route out of the political gridlock by holding a fresh round of “indicative votes” on rival options to Mrs May’s deal.
Some Europhile ministers want Mrs May to build a cross-party coalition around the soft Brexit alternative of a customs union with the EU.
· On Monday, Parliament will hold an indicative vote on Brexit alternatives. A customs union with the EU is thought to be the most likely preference.
Meanwhile, the prime minister is considering her next move after her plan was defeated for a third time.
European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said on Sunday that patience was running out with the UK.
In an Italian television interview, Mr Juncker said that the EU wanted to see MPs reach an agreement about the terms of the UK's departure in the coming hours and days.
· Turkey’s Tayyip Erdogan suffered a severe setback on Sunday as his ruling AK Party was set to lose control of the capital Ankara for the first time in a local election and he appeared to concede defeat in the country’s largest city, Istanbul.
· Oil prices rose on Friday, on track for their biggest quarterly rise in a decade, as U.S. sanctions against Iran and Venezuela as well as OPEC-led supply cuts overshadowed concerns over a slowing global economy.
The rebound comes after a swift and punishing collapse in oil prices during the final quarter of 2018.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures settled 84 cents higher at $60.14 per barrel, up 1.4 percent on the day. WTI earlier touched $60.73, its highest level since Nov. 12.
WTI futures rose for a fourth straight week and surged 32 percent in the first three months of the year.
The May Brent crude futures contract, which expires Friday, gained 57 cents to $68.39 a barrel, gaining 27 percent in the first quarter. The more-active June contract was up 57 cents to $67.67 a barrel around 2:30 p.m. EDT (1830 GMT).
For both futures contracts, the first quarter 2019 is the best performing quarter since the second quarter of 2009 when both gained about 40 percent.
Reference: CNBC, Reuters, Financial Times, Bloomberg
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