· The U.S. dollar was broadly lower on Friday as a combination of uninspiring U.S. economic data and political uncertainty kept traders biased toward the euro and other world currencies.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was down 0.46% at 93.35, moving closer to Thursday’s 13-month low of 93.00.
EUR/USD climbed 0.51% to 1.1735, not far from Thursday’s two-and-a-half year highs of 1.1777.
· The dollar struggled on Monday, wallowing near a 2-1/2-year low against the euro, weighed down by U.S. political uncertainty and uninspiring U.S. data that added to doubts about whether there will be another Federal Reserve rate hike this year.
The euro was steady at $1.1743 EUR=, after the previous day's surge brought it closer to $1.1777, a 2-1/2-year high set on Thursday.
The U.S. currency was down 0.15 percent at 110.525 yen JPY= after touching 110.475, its weakest since mid-June.
The dollar index against a basket of six major currencies was 0.2 percent higher at 93.413 .DXY, trimming some losses after dropping 0.6 percent on Friday.
· The U.S. economy accelerated in the second quarter as consumers ramped up spending and businesses invested more on equipment, but persistent sluggish wage gains cast a dark shadow over the growth outlook.
Gross domestic product increased at a 2.6 percent annual rate in the April-June period, which included a boost from trade, the Commerce Department said in its advance estimate on Friday. That was more than double the first quarter's downwardly revised 1.2 percent growth pace.
Wage growth, however, decelerated despite an unemployment rate that averaged 4.4 percent in the second quarter. Inflation also retreated, appearing to weaken the case for the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates again this year.
· The European Central Bank should start thinking about how it wants to return to normal monetary policy and when it wants to wind down it bond purchases, governing council member Sabine Lautenschlaeger said in remarks published on Saturday.
"The expansionary monetary policy has both advantages and side effects. As time passes, the positive effects get weaker and the risks increase," she told the Mannheimer Morgen newspaper.
· The International Monetary Fund on Friday said that the U.S. dollar was overvalued by 10 percent to 20 percent, based on U.S. near-term economic fundamentals, while it viewed valuations of the euro, Japan's yen, and China's yuan as broadly in line with fundamentals.
· President Vladimir Putin said the United States would have to cut its diplomatic staff in Russia by 755 people and that Moscow could consider additional measures against Washington as a response to new U.S. sanctions approved by Congress.
· North Korea test fired a missile that may have landed within 230 miles of Japan's coast, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said.
The missile was fired shortly before midnight Japan time on Friday, Japan's public broadcaster, NHK, said, citing government officials. Abe is convening an emergency meeting of officials, Reuters reported.
· The United States flew two supersonic B-1B bombers over the Korean peninsula in a show of force on Sunday after Pyongyang's recent tests of intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM), the U.S. and South Korean Air Forces said.
· Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said on Monday he spoke with U.S. President Donald Trump by phone and that they agreed on the need to take further action on North Korea in the wake of its most recent missile launch.
· North Korea said on Saturday it had conducted another successful test of an intercontinental ballistic missile that proved its ability to strike the U.S. mainland.
· The United States said it shot down a medium-range target ballistic missile in its latest test of the country's THAAD missile defense program, which is designed to protect the country against potential threats from countries such as North Korea and Iran.
The test, conducted over the Pacific Ocean, comes amid heightened tensions with North Korea, which on Saturday said it had conducted its own successful test of a long-range intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) that proved it has the capacity to strike American's mainland.
· Oil ended its strongest week this year with a surge on Friday, built on receding fears of oversupply, as U.S. crude came within striking distance of $50 a barrel for the first time since the end of May.
Traders attributed the activity to short-covering of previous bearish bets as oil finished higher in every session this week. U.S. crude settled at $49.71 a barrel, up 67 cents, or 1.4 percent, and on the week gained nearly 9 percent.
Brent crude futures settled at $52.52 a barrel, up 2 percent, or $1.03 a barrel, after reaching a two-month high of $52.68 a barrel earlier in the day.
· Oil prices rose to their highest levels since May early on Monday as a dip in U.S. output tightened the market and the threat of sanctions against Venezuela kept traders on edge.
Brent crude futures LCOc1, the international benchmark for oil prices, were trading up 18 cents or 0.3 percent at $52.70 per barrel at 0009 GMT. Prices earlier hit $52.76, the highest level since May 25.
Reference: Reuters, CNBC, Investing
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