• The dollar was moderately lower against the yen on Wednesday, with investors reluctant to drive it higher amid caution about potential jawboning to stem a stronger dollar from Donald Trump and his administration.
The greenback USDJPY, -0.11% weakened to ¥113.65 after struggling to rise earlier in the session. That compared with ¥113.77 late Tuesday in New York.
Many worry that U.S. President Donald Trump’s protectionist approach on trade could hurt economic growth, as he kicked off his presidency this week by signing an executive order pulling the U.S. from the Trans-Pacific Partnership. But market sentiment has brightened a little, on news that Trump took steps to revive oil pipeline projects that had been rejected by the Obama administration.
• President Donald Trump plans to unveil actions on national security starting Wednesday that are expected to include steps toward building a wall on the Mexican border and limiting refugee inflows to the U.S., moving to fulfill key promises he made during his election campaign.
“Big day planned on NATIONAL SECURITY tomorrow. Among many other things, we will build the wall!” the president wrote Tuesday night in a message on his personal Twitter feed.
• Oil edged lower on Wednesday as the expectation of an increase in US inventories weighed on the market, offsetting bullish momentum from output cuts announced by Opec and other producers.
Brent crude, the international benchmark for oil prices, had dropped 15c, or 0.3%, to $55.29 a barrel by 2.28am GMT. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures lost 22c, or 0.4%, to trade at $52.96 a barrel.
Reference: Reuters, Bloomberg, MarketWatch
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