· The dollar drifted higher against the euro and British pound on Monday, supported by the relative strength of the U.S. economy, though moves remained small as many investors were still away for the long Easter weekend.
The dollar index was last down a tenth of a percent at 97.369, drifting slightly lower after booking a 0.4-percent gain last week.
The index remained within striking distance of its 2019 high of 97.71 brushed in early March.
Investors’ immediate focus will be on U.S. existing home sales for March, due at 1400 GMT, for further cues on the health of the U.S. economy
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In February, U.S. home sales surged to their highest in 11 months, as the country’s housing market showed renewed momentum following a pause in interest rate hikes by the Federal Reserve.
· The euro was a tad lower at $1.1244, adding to last week’s losses of nearly half a percent after data on Thursday showed that activity in Germany’s manufacturing sector shrank for a fourth straight month in April.
· The pound was last down 0.05 percent at $1.2994, dipping below the $1.30 handle and nearly 0.4 percent off a two-month low of $1.2945 hit last month.
· Against the Japanese yen, the dollar was 0.1 percent higher at 111.98 yen, within reach of this year’s peak of 112.17 hit on Wednesday last week.
· Starting Saturday, Japan will have an unprecedented 10-day holiday from late April to early May to mark the ascension of the new emperor, Crown Prince Naruhito.
· Daiwa’s Ishizuki said he expected currency trading by Japanese investors to remain relatively light as traders and companies are shifting into holiday mode.
· More than 200 people were killed and at least 450 injured in bomb blasts that ripped through churches and luxury hotels in Sri Lanka on Easter Sunday, the first major attack on the Indian Ocean island since the end of a civil war 10 years ago.
The government declared a curfew in Colombo and blocked access to social media and messaging sites, including Facebook and WhatsApp. It was unclear when the curfew would be lifted.
· A top member of Prime Minister Theresa May’s Conservative Party will tell her in the coming week that she must step down by the end of June or her lawmakers will try again to depose her, the Sunday Times reported, without citing sources.
Britain was originally due to leave the European Union on March 29, but that deadline was pushed back to April 12 and then again to Oct. 31 as May failed to break an impasse in parliament on the terms of Brexit.
· Oil prices rose early on Monday, with Brent hitting its highest level since November, driven up by a decline in U.S. drilling activity and ongoing supply cuts led by producer club OPEC.
Brent crude futures were at a November 2018 high of $72.58 per barrel at 0028 GMT, up 0.8 percent from their last close.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were at $64.55 per barrel, up 0.9 percent from their previous settlement.
Reference: CNBC, Reuters
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