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• The dollar languished at a five-month low versus the yen early on Wednesday, as simmering geopolitical tensions checked risk appetite and put the safe-haven Japanese currency in favor.

The dollar was at 109.745 yen JPY= after touching 109.535 earlier in the session, its lowest since Nov. 17.

While the euro sagged against the yen, it fared better versus the struggling dollar. The common currency was up 0.1 percent at $1.0610 EUR=, adding to modest overnight gains.

• U.S. job openings rose to a seven-month high in February while the pace of hiring slipped, pointing to a growing skills mismatch and a further tightening of labor market conditions.

Job openings, a measure of labor demand, increased 118,000 to a seasonally adjusted 5.7 million, the Labor Department said on Tuesday. That was the highest level since July and lifted the jobs openings rate to 3.8percent after holding steady at 3.7 percent for four straight months.

• The U.S. Federal Reserve could begin winding down its massive balance sheet sometime later this year in a shift that would make it less necessary to raise the official funds rate, a central banker said on Monday.

Talking to reporters in Australia, St. Louis Federal Reserve President James Bullard said opinions differed within the Fed on ending its balance sheet reinvestment policy and it would take some time to agree on, but he felt it could start later in the year.

• North Korean state media warned on Tuesday of a nuclear attack on the United States at any sign of American aggression, as a U.S. Navy strike group steamed toward the western Pacific - a force U.S. President Donald Trump described as an "armada".

• President Donald Trump's administration accused Russia on Tuesday of trying to shield Syria's government from blame for a deadly gas attack, as Secretary of State Rex Tillerson brought a Western message to Moscow condemning its support for President Bashar al-Assad.

• Russia says it hopes forthcoming talks in Moscow with Tillerson will be productive but is extremely worried the United States might decide to unilaterally attack North Korea.

• Crude oil prices turned positive on Tuesday, reversing course on reports that Saudi Arabia has told OPEC officials it wants to continue output cuts for an additional six months.

Brent crude LCOc1, the international benchmark for oil, settled up 25 cents at $56.23 a barrel, its highest since March 7.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) CLc1 rose 32 cents to $53.40 a barrel, surpassing a five-week high.