• The dollar hit a seven-week high against the yen on Friday after the Bank of Japan increased its purchases of government bonds, expanding monetary policy at a time when other major central banks are moving towards tightening.
With the biggest data set-piece of the month -- the U.S. non-farm payrolls report -- due at 1230 GMT, most currencies traded in tight ranges.
The yen was the outlier, with the dollar gaining over half a percent against the Japanese currency to hit113.835 yen, its strongest since May 16.
• Legislatures in Connecticut, Illinois, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Oregon, Rhode Island and Wisconsin remain in disagreement about how to close ongoing budget gaps in their states or fund new budget initiatives.
The Illinois House was poised to take final budget action on Thursday by attempting to override the governor's vetoes of a $36 billion spending plan and $5 billion tax hike approved by the Democratic-controlled legislature over the Fourth of July holiday weekend. A hazardous materials situation in the state Capitol in Springfield delayed the House session, but officials determined the substance was harmless and lawmakers were returning.
Thirty-three of the 50 U.S. states reported revenues that came in below projections in fiscal year 2017, the highest number of states since the recession decimated budgets in 2010, according to the National Association of State Budget Officers.
• U.S. Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell said on Thursday that Congress must act to shore up private health insurance markets if it fails to repeal Obamacare, comments seen as providing a pathway to a bipartisan deal to fix the health system.
Many of the individual health insurance markets established under Obamacare have struggled, hurt by an unfavorable balance of sick and healthy customers, and some insurers have pulled out because of uncertainty on whether the government will continue to fund cost-sharing subsidies to help individuals pay premiums.
Republicans have been fighting to repeal Obama's signature piece of domestic legislation since it was first approved. President Donald Trump and Republicans in Congress made repeal a central campaign promise last year.
• U.S. President Donald Trump vowed on Thursday to confront North Korea "very strongly" following its latest missile test and urged nations to show Pyongyang there would be consequences for its weapons programme.
• Leaders from the world's top economies will try to bridge deep differences with U.S. President Donald Trump on climate change and trade on Friday as a Group of 20 summit gets underway in Germany amid the threat of violent protests.
• German industrial production rose more than expected in May, data showed on Friday, boosting expectations that factories will support growth in Europe's biggest economy in the second quarter.
Industrial output jumped by 1.2 percent on the month, data from the Economy Ministry showed. That was the fifth consecutive monthly increase and beat the consensus forecast in a Reuters poll for a 0.3 percent gain.
• The United States is increasingly concerned that a rift between Qatar and other Arab states is at an impasse and could drag on for a long time or intensify, the U.S. State Department said on Thursday.
Underscoring U.S. concerns about a crisis involving key allies in the Middle East, the department said Secretary of State Rex Tillerson plans to visit Kuwait, which is mediating in the dispute, on Monday.
• Euro zone growth is picking up but underlying inflation is still weak so the European Central Bank should adjust its policy carefully and flexibly to avoid abrupt market moves, ECB board member Benoit Coeure told two European newspapers.
• U.S. employers likely stepped up hiring in June and boosted wages for workers, signs of labor market strength that could keep the Federal Reserve on course for a third interest rate increase this year.
According to a Reuters survey of economists, the Labor Department's closely watched employment report on Friday will probably show that nonfarm payrolls increased by 179,000 jobs last month after gaining138,000 in May.
The unemployment rate is forecast steady at a 16-year low of 4.3 percent. It has dropped five-tenths of a percentage point this year and matches the most recent Fed median forecast for 2017.
Economists say labor market buoyancy could also encourage the U.S. central bank to announce plans to start reducing its $4.2 trillion portfolio of Treasury bonds and mortgage-backed securities in September.
• Oil prices fell by more than 1 percent on Friday, with U.S. crude futures dipping below $45 per barrel as news of a rise in U.S. production added to earlier reports that OPEC output was also on the rise.
Brent crude futures, the international benchmark for oil prices, were trading down 61 cents, or 1.3 percent, at $47.50 per barrel by 0638 GMT.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were at $44.94 per barrel, down 58 cents, or 1.3percent.
Reference: Reuters
Thai
Eng