• U.S. lawmakers had urged Mr. Trump to strike the Assad regime. There is a growing consensus that the regime used banned chemical weapons in the attack, which killed at least 85 people, including 27 children, and injured about 550.
The attacks spurred a flight to safety in global financial markets, sending yields on safe-haven U.S. Treasury securities to their lowest since November. Stocks weakened in Asia and U.S. equity index futures slid, indicating Wall Street would open lower on Friday. Prices for oil and gold both rose, and the dollar slipped against the Japanese yen.
• Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe voiced support on Friday for U.S. military strikes against Syria after it launched deadly chemical weapons on a rebel-held area earlier this week.
"Many innocent people became victims from the chemical attacks. The international community was shocked by the tragedy that left many young children among the victims," Abe told reporters.
"Japan supports the U.S. government's determination to prevent the spread and use of chemical weapons," he said.
• The Federal Reserve's coming decision to reduce its massive asset holdings will set off a complex dance with global investors and the U.S. Treasury as it tries to put a final end to policies used to fight the financial crisis without upending the economy along the way.2007
It is a feat with no clear precedent, according to analysts and officials involved in the process: a central bank trying to squeeze trillions of dollars out of markets it has supported for a decade, and in the process likely pushing up the cost of home buying, corporate finance and an array of other activities.
• Even with the U.S. economy boasting impressive job growth and domestic equity markets near record highs, a fragmented recovery has left many states struggling to close budget deficits nearly a decade after the 2008 financial crisis.
The broad recovery has benefited large, economically diverse states like California and Texas, ratings agencies say, while states heavily dependent on oil revenues, like North Dakota and Alaska, and those like Illinois that are grappling with large unfunded pension obligations, have seen budget deficits bloom.
S&P Global has downgraded 11 states compared to just two upgrades since January 2016. It has 11 states on negative outlook, which means the ratings agency believes more than 20 percent of states are in danger of a credit downgrade.
• Oil futures surged more than 2 percent to a one-month high on Friday after the United States launched dozens of cruise missiles at an airbase in Syria, with prices later dropping back as there seemed no immediate threat to supplies.
After tepid trading before the attack, Brent crude futures LCOc1 jumped to $56.08 per barrel, in what traders called a knee-jerk reaction, before easing to $55.62 per barrel at 0704 GMT, still up 1.3 percent from their last close.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures CLc1 also climbed by more than 2 percent, to a high of $52.94 a barrel, before receding to $52.46, up 1.45 percent.
Reference: Reuters, CNBC, CNN
Thai
Eng