• The dollar perked up on Friday, rebounding from a seven-week low on optimism over the U.S. economic outlook and corporate earnings, while the Mexican peso fell after the White House floated the idea of a 20 percent tax on Mexican goods to pay for a border wall.
The dollar index, which measures the greenback against six major peers, gained 0.2 percent to 100.57. The index had recovered overnight to hit 100.73, after dipping to a seven-week low of 99.793.
• Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump are expected to talk by telephone this Saturday, the Kremlin said, their first conversation since Trump took office.
Their conversation will also be subject to close scrutiny from Trump's critics after U.S. intelligence agencies alleged that Russian security services tried to influence the U.S. presidential election in Trump's favour.
Trump has raised the possibility of reviewing sanctions that were imposed on Russia after Moscow annexed Ukraine's Crimea region in 2014 and helped separatist rebels fighting government forces in the east of Ukraine.
• Japan is preparing for all possible contingencies regarding trade talks with the United States, chief government spokesman Yoshihide Suga said on Friday, after U.S. President Donald Trump ditched the Trans-Pacific Partnership this week.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will visit Washington next month, and an official in Trump's administration said Trump would seek quick progress towards a bilateral trade agreement with Japan in place of the broader Asia-Pacific deal.
• Oil prices dipped on Friday as rising crude output from the United States was offsetting efforts by OPEC and other producers to prop up the market by cutting supplies.
Brent crude futures LCOc1, the international benchmark for oil prices, were trading at $56.17 per barrel at 0556 GMT, down 7 cents from their last close.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures CLc1 were at $53.77 a barrel, down 1 cent.
Reference: Reuters
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