• San Francisco Federal Reserve Bank President John C. Williams said on Thursday he sees three interest rate increases for this year as his baseline scenario, but views four rate increases as also being appropriate if the U.S. economy gets an unexpected boost.
• President Donald Trump said he would announce on Thursday his decision whether to keep the United States in a global pact to fight climate change, as a source close to the matter said he was preparing to pull out of the Paris accord.
Trump said he would make the announcement at 3 p.m. EDT (1900 GMT) in the White House Rose Garden, ending his tweet with "MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!"
• The Bank of Japan will not face big losses in the long run when it eventually begins to tighten monetary policy, board member Yutaka Harada said on Thursday, seeking to address concerns of some market players.
When the BOJ does tighten policy, it will sell its bond holdings and raise the interest it pays on the excess reserves to mop up liquidity from markets, Harada said.
• China's manufacturing activity unexpectedly contracted in May for the first time in 11 months and companies shed more jobs as demand weakened and shrinking factory prices dented profits, a private survey showed on Thursday.
The Caixin/Markit Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' index (PMI) fell to 49.6, below the 50-point mark which demarcates growth and contraction on a monthly basis.
• Mexico's Economy Minister Ildefonso Guajardo said on Wednesday there are "incentives" to wrap up the renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) by the end of the year due to upcoming elections in the United States and Mexico.
"The incentives of the U.S. and Mexican electoral calendars encourage us both to try to finish (the renegotiation) by the end of 2017," Guajardo told Reuters.
U.S. mid-term elections and the Mexican presidential vote are slated for 2018.
• Oil futures rose on Thursday from a three-week low touched the previous session, buoyed by expectations the United States could pull out of a global climate accord and by a report that showed U.S. crude stockpiles had fallen more than expected.
Brent crude futures for July were up 39 cents, or 0.8 percent, at $51.15 a barrel by 0552 GMT, after trading higher earlier.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures were up 40 cents, or 0.8 percent, $48.72 a barrel.
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