• The dollar was buoyant on Friday, rising to a 1-1/2-week high versus the yen, on comments by U.S. President Donald Trump that he would announce the most ambitious tax reform plan since the Reagan era in the next few weeks.
The dollar index against a basket of major currencies was steady at 100.610 after touching 100.710 .DXY, its highest in three days.
• Tax reform is a priority for President Donald Trump and for Congress, and there’s momentum for cutting corporate rates significantly below the current 35 percent federal level, perhaps paid for by reducing the number of deductions and credits available.
Trump’s 100-day plan calls for a corporate tax rate of 15 percent and mentions the issue alongside trade policy changes, such as tariffs on U.S. companies that move abroad, and incentives for the repatriation of offshore profits. House Republicans proposed a 20 percent corporate rate and Speaker Paul Ryan said that Congress will soon take up tax reform.
• Trump told a meeting of airline executives his tax plan would include a "big league" reduction of the tax burden on American business.
Trump has previously proposed reducing the corporate income tax rate to 15 or 20% from the current rate of 35%.
• Donald Trump reaffirmed the U.S.’s long-standing support for the ‘One-China’ policy in his first phone call as president with Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping.
• China reported better-than-expected trade data for January as demand picked up both at home and abroad, an encouraging start to 2017 for the world's largest trading nation even as Asia's exporters brace for a rise in U.S. protectionism.
January exports rose 7.9 percent from a year earlier as global demand perked up, while imports expanded 16.7 percent on improved domestic appetite for coal, crude oil and iron ore, preliminary data from customs showed on Friday.
That left the country with a initial trade surplus of $51.35 billion for the month, the General Administration of Customs said.
• Oil prices were stable on Friday, supported by strong Chinese crude imports and OPEC-led production cuts, although ample U.S. fuel inventories weighed on the market.
Brent crude futures LCOc1, the international benchmark for oil prices, were trading at $55.68 per barrel at 0427 GMT, up 5 cents from their previous close.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures CLc1 were up 7 cents at $53.07 a barrel.
Reference: Reuters, Alliance News
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