• The dollar rebounded slightly in Asia Tuesday as investors keep a close eye on developments on the Korean peninsula as the USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier-led battle group heads to the Sea of Japan.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback's strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, rose 0.06% to 98.97. USD/JPY changed hands at 109.7, up 0.01%, EUR/USD fell 0.02% to 1.0865.
• President Donald Trump's zeal to unveil a tax plan before his 100th day in office is raising questions about just how thorough his "tax reform" plans will be, amid signals that his focus for now is on slashing tax rates.
Trump has directed aides to move quickly on a plan to cut the corporate income tax rate to 15 percent from 35 percent, a Trump administration official said on Monday.
With his 100th day nearing on April 29, Trump has been ordering studies and signing executive orders. But he has yet to introduce a major bill to the Republican-controlled Congress on any topic or win passage of someone else's that he supports.
• Top Trump administration officials will hold a rare briefing on Wednesday at the White House for the entire U.S. Senate on the situation in North Korea.
All 100 senators have been asked to the White House for the briefing by Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis, Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats and General Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said White House spokesman Sean Spicer on Monday.
• Bank of Japan Deputy Governor Kikuo Iwata said on Tuesday the central bank was conducting a study of how it could end its massive monetary stimulus in the future, but acknowledged it was still far from achieving its inflation target.
• China's registered urban unemployment rate fell below 4 percent for the first time in years, in a hopeful sign slower economic growth is not creating the massive unemployment Beijing fears will sow social instability
The registered urban unemployment rate was 3.97 percent at the end of the first quarter, Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security spokesman Lu Aihong told a news conference.
• Oil prices recovered some ground on Tuesday, halting six consecutive sessions of slide, but markets remain under pressure as traders lose confidence that pledged output cuts by major producers will rein in oversupply in a world awash with fuel.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures CLc1 had added 14 cents, or 0.3 percent, by 0640 GMT, but remained below the $50 mark pierced late last week, at $49.37 a barrel.
Brent crude LCOc1 rose 14 cents, or 0.27 percent, to $51.74 per barrel.
Oil prices will likely range between the low $50s and low $60s a barrel in 2017 and are unlikely to hit $70 a barrel due to excess supply, the Asian head of energy and commodities trader Vitol said on Tuesday.
Reference: Reuters,Investing
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