• The dollar edged lower after notching an eight week high against the yen on Thursday in Asian trade, while the New Zealand dollar tumbled after its central bank suggested a tightening was further out than markets had priced in.
The dollar was slightly down on the day at 114.14 yen after earlier rising as high as 114.37, its highest since March 15.
The New Zealand dollar skidded 1.5 percent to $0.6832, after the Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) held its benchmark interest rate steady at 1.75 percent and retained its neutral bias, defying the expectations of many economists that it would lean toward a tightening of monetary policy in early 2019.
The euro was up 0.1 percent at $1.0874. That pushed the dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, to 99.587, down 0.1 percent.
European Central Bank President Mario Draghi said on Wednesday that it is too early for the ECB to declare victory in its quest to boost euro zone inflation despite signs the bloc's economic recovery is strengthening, confirming he is in no rush to raise interest rates or wind down the ECB's 2.3 billion euro bond-buying programme.
• North Korea is expected to press China to tone down its economic sanctions when its delegation ¬attends an infrastructure and trade summit in Beijing on ¬Sunday, observers said.
Talks between North Korean and Chinese officials on the sidelines of the "Belt and Road Initiative" forum would mainly focus on economic matters, but Beijing was likely to call on Pyongyang to stop its provocations in order for the sanctions to be relaxed, the analysts added.
China said on Tuesday that a North Korean delegation would attend the forum along with leaders from 28 other nations, surprising diplomatic observers.
• Chinese President Xi Jinping discussed nuclear tensions on the Korean peninsula with South Korea's new liberal President Moon Jae-in on Thursday, state television said, as Moon set about addressing a raft of problems posed by the North's defiance.
Xi told Moon that China has always upheld the denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula and that the nuclear issue should be resolved through talks, which are in everyone's interests, according to the state television report.
• Japan's current account balance posted a stronger-than-expected surplus in March on solid income from overseas investments, maintaining a run of uninterrupted monthly surpluses that has continued for almost three years.
The surplus of 2.91 trillion yen ($25.45 billion) marked the 33rd straight month in the black, finance ministry data showed on Thursday, and beat the median forecast for a surplus of 2.643 trillion yen in a Reuters poll of economists.
Export-reliant Japan's persistent current account surpluses could elevate the thorny issue of trade imbalances with U.S. President Donald Trump's administration, which has pledged to rework the United States' current agreements with its major trading partners.
· Oil prices extended their 3 percent-plus overnight gains, their biggest one-day jump since Dec. 1, following a steep drop in U.S. inventories and support from Iraq and Algeria for an extension to OPEC supply cuts.
U.S. crude rose 0.55 percent to $47.59 a barrel on Thursday. Global benchmark Brent crude advanced 0.5 percent to $50.46.
Reference: Reuters
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