· The dollar traded near a three-week high on Friday, on track for its strongest week this year, as robust producer price and labor market data bolstered expectations that the Federal Reserve will raise U.S. interest rates again in June.
The dollar was flat at 113.81 yen JPY=, down from its eight-week high of 114.38 yen reached earlier in the week.
· The CIA has established a Korea Mission Center to address "the nuclear and ballistic missile threat posed by" North Korea and its unpredictable leader, the US intelligence agency announced Wednesday.
· The German economy grew by 0.6 percent in the first quarter of 2017, driven by higher investment in construction, machinery and equipment, robust household and state spending as well as strong exports, the Federal Statistics Office said on Friday.
· Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda said on Friday that trade protectionism won't be a solution to fix the problem of widening global inequality.
· South Korea has accepted a last-minute invitation from China to a conference on a new Silk Road, days after a new president took office on Seoul pledging to engage in discussions with Beijing to ease tension over a U.S. anti-missile system.
Leaders of 28 countries and senior officials from many more gather in Beijing on Sunday for to discuss Xi's initiative to expand trade links between Asia, Africa and Europe through billions of dollars in infrastructure investment.
· Oil prices rose on Friday as traders expected OPEC-led production cuts to extend beyond the middle of this year, and as U.S. crude inventories fell to their lowest levels since February.
International Brent crude futures LCOc1 were at $50.96 per barrel at 0646 GMT on Friday, up 19 cents, or 0.37 percent, from their last close.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures CLc1 were at $48.01 per barrel, up 18 cents, or 0.38 percent.
· Demand for gasoline in Asia may peak much earlier than expected as millions of people in China and India buy electric vehicles over the next decade, threatening wrenching change for the oil industry, oil and auto company executives warned
Reference: BBC, Reuters
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