· The dollar edged up to eight week highs against the yen on Thursday in early Asian trading, as investors' focus turned back to the strength of the economy and away from U.S. politics.
The dollar was slightly up on the day at 114.31 yen after earlier rising as high as 114.37, its highest since March 15.
· The euro was steady from late North American levels at $1.0865. It was also steady against a basket of currencies, with the dollar index at 99.673.
The yen had gained in the previous session after U.S. President Donald Trump abruptly fired FBI Director James Comey, raising investors' fears that the controversial move would lead to political turmoil and derail U.S. stimulus steps and tax reform.
· Such fears were not entirely vanquished. Days before he was fired, Comey told lawmakers he sought more resources for his agency's probe into possible collusion between Trump's presidential campaign and Russia to sway the 2016 U.S. election, a congressional source said on Wednesday.
But with markets pricing in around a 90 percent chance that the economy is strong enough for the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates at its meeting next month, investors did not lose sight of fundamentals.
· South Korea's presidential election has been won by Moon Jae-in, a liberal who favors a more open policy toward North Korea.
Moon, the Democratic Party's candidate to replace ousted President Park Geun-hye, was declared the winner by the country's National Election Commission. With 100% of the votes counted, Moon won with 41.08%, the commission said.
The election of Moon, a 64-year-old former human rights lawyer, is likely to mean an overhaul for Seoul's policy on North Korea. Unlike his hard-line conservative predecessor, he favors engagement with Pyongyang and has challenged the deployment of a controversial US missile defense system.
· U.S. crude rose 3.2 percent to $47.35 per barrel and Brent was last at $50.22, up 3.06 percent on the day.
Oil prices rebounded on Wednesday after the largest one-week drop in U.S. crude inventories this year, helping fuel a modest rise on Wall Street, while European stocks closed near their highest in almost two years.
· U.S. stocks were pulled higher by energy shares, with the S&P energy index gaining 1.06 percent.
· Oil prices rose after Iraq and Algeria joined Saudi Arabia in supporting an extension to OPEC supply cuts and U.S. inventories fell more than expected.
Reference: Reuters, BBC
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