• The dollar index .DXY, which tracks the greenback against a basket of six major peers, inched up 0.1 percent to 97.039 after posting a 0.4 percent loss on Wednesday. That weighed on sterling, which slipped 0.1percent to $1.2875.
• The pound was just above a one-month low of $1.2770 set on Wednesday, having regained some ground after two other surveys showed May's poll lead in double digits, countering signs she might fall short of a majority in next week's election.
• The euro eased 0.1 percent to $1.1236. On Wednesday, the euro had risen 0.5 percent, bringing it back near last week's 6-1/2 month high of $1.1268.
• U.S. interest rates futures were little changed on Wednesday after the Federal Reserve's latest Beige Book showed regional economic activity grew at a modest or moderate pace across the country, supporting the view the Fed would raise rates in two weeks.
Federal funds futures implied traders saw an 87 percent chance the U.S. central bank would increase key overnight borrowing costs by a quarter point, to 1.00-1.25 percent, at its June 13-14 policy meeting FFM7 FFN7.This was unchanged from the level prior to the release of the Beige Book for early April to late May and down a bit from Tuesday's 92 percent, according to CME Group's FedWatch tool.
• The Trump administration has rolled out a new questionnaire for U.S. visa applicants worldwide that asks for social media handles for the last five years and biographical information going back 15 years.
The new questions, part of an effort to tighten vetting of would-be visitors to the United States, was approved on May 23 by the Office of Management and Budget despite criticism from a range of education officials and academic groups during a public comment period.
Critics argued that the new questions would be overly burdensome, lead to long delays in processing and discourage international students and scientists from coming to the United States.
• President Donald Trump sought to insert himself into congressional investigations on Russia on Wednesday, urging lawmakers to hear from one of his former advisers, Carter Page, to counter testimony by directors of the FBI and CIA.
• Hillary Clinton said on Wednesday she suspects President Donald Trump's campaign gave guidance to Russian government propaganda efforts during last year's U.S. presidential campaign, leveling her most serious charge yet against the person who defeated her.
• President Donald Trump told reporters on Wednesday that he will announce his decision "very soon" on whether he will withdraw the United States from the Paris climate deal.
• U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said the best window to complete the renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) is by early January, well before Mexico's general elections and U.S. congressional elections in 2018.
• Euro zone inflation eased by more than expected in May, reflecting dips in Germany and Spain among others and supporting European Central Bank policymakers wanting only slow adjustments to rates and monetary stimulus.
Inflation in the 19 countries sharing the euro slipped to 1.4 percent, its lowest level since December, from 1.9 percent year-on-year in April, statistis agency Eurostat said on Wednesday. This was slightly below expectations in a Reuters poll of 1.5 percent.
• Ahead of Britain's June 8 election, Prime Minister Theresa May's Conservative Party has a 6 percentage point lead over opposition Labour Party, a SurveyMonkey poll for the Sun showed on Wednesday.
• The SurveyMonkey poll put the Tories on 44 percent and Labour on 38 percent.
• YouGov's election model, which pointed to British Prime Minister Theresa May losing her majority, was based on a voting intention of 41 percent for the Conservatives and 38 percent for Labour, a difference of 3points, the pollster said.
• The model indicates Conservatives winning between 275 and 344 seats and Labour winning 227-289 seats, the company said on Wednesday.
• Oil prices sank 3 percent to a three-week low on Wednesday as an increase in Libyan output helped boost monthly OPEC crude production for the first time this year.
Brent notched its fifth straight monthly decline in a row despite OPEC-led output cuts and forecasts that U.S. crude inventories would fall for an eighth straight week since hitting a record at the end of March.
- Brent crude futures for July LCOc1 fell $1.53, or 3.0 percent, to settle at $50.31 a barrel on their last day as the front-month. It was Brent's lowest close since May 10.
- U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude CLc1 fell $1.34, or 2.7 percent, to settle at $48.32 per barrel, its lowest close since May 12.
• U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) report is due at 11:00 a.m. EDT (1500 GMT) on Thursday, delayed a day because of the Memorial Day holiday on Monday.
Reference: Reuters
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