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The hike in the yuan's exchange rate came after the U.S. Federal Reserve kept its benchmark short-term interest rates unchanged and reduced the number of expected rate hikes this year, which triggered a slump in the U.S. dollar.
The European Central Bank can cut interest rates again if the euro zone's economy fails to pick up and, under extreme circumstances, it might even consider printing money and giving it out directly to people, its chief economist said in a La Repubblica’s newspaper interview published on Friday.
U.S. oil futures touched new highs for 2016 on Friday and were set to post gains for a fifth straight week on growing optimism that major producers would strike a deal to freeze output, while a more benign interest rate environment also supported prices.
U.S. crude CLc1 was up 3 cents at $40.23 barrel at 0653 GMT, after rising to as much as $40.55 -higher than the previous peak of $40.36 reached on Thursday. The benchmark had surged 4.5 percent to close at $40.20 in the prior session.
Brent crude's front-month contract LCOc1 was up 2 cents at $41.56 per barrel and earlier rose to $41.71, a new high for the year. It finished up $1.21 at $41.54 a barrel on Thursday.
Reference: FXStreet, Xinhua, Reuters
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