· The dollar was little changed against other major currencies on Monday in holiday-thinned trading while the cost of swapping the yen for the dollar jumped as banks scrambled to raise dollars for the year-end period.
The dollar stood little changed at 113.30 yen JPY= in Asian trade on Monday, hardly gaining traction from upbeat U.S. economic data published on Friday.
The data helped to push the two-year U.S. yield to a nine-year high of 1.899 percent US2YT=RR and dollar interest rate futures FFF9 to price in more than two rate hikes next year for the first time.
The euro was also little changed at $1.1850 EUR=, having slipped a tad on Friday after Catalan separatists won a regional election, deepening Spain's political crisis in a sharp rebuke to Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy and European Union leaders who backed him.
· Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies were on a magnificent wave of seemingly endless growth this past year. That run came to an end today as Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum, Litecoin, and other major cryptocurrencies crashed today.
Bitcoin's price dropped 25 percent this week from a high of almost $20,000 to a low of below $12,000. Volatility is a major issue for investors looking to invest and this dip isn't reassuring.
Since the beginning of 2017, Bitcoin's price rose with seemingly no end in sight. On Jan. 1, it's price was listed at almost $997. At its peak, the price rose to just south of $20,000.
As the price slipped this week, investors started selling causing the price to dip below $12,000. Most cryptocurrencies have been experiencing double-digit losses in the last 24 hours.
· Larry Lindsey, a former top economic advisor to President George W. Bush and a one-time Federal Reserve governor, is being considered for the Fed vice chairman job, according to sources.
· U.S. consumer spending accelerated in November amid an increase in demand for recreational goods and utilities, but the strong pace of consumption is unlikely to be sustained as savings dropped to their lowest level in more than nine years.
· Islamic State claimed responsibility for a suicide attack on a compound of Afghanistan’s national intelligence agency in Kabul on Monday, that killed at least five people and wounded two.
· China will invest a similar amount next year on transportation infrastructure as it did in 2017, with projects to include 5,000 km of new expressways, state media reported on Monday.
The planned investments, which also include renovation of 216,000 km of roads and increasing volumes at China’s container ports by more than 15 percent, were outlined at a Ministry of Transport conference, the People’s Daily newspaper reported.
China has spent 2.12 trillion yuan ($323 billion) in the first 11 months of 2017, according to government data, slightly off pace to meet an investment target of 2.6 trillion yuan set at the beginning of the year.
· China’s industrial output is likely to grow around 6 percent next year, the country’s industry ministry said on Monday.
The nation’s industrial output is also expected to rise about 6.5 percent this year, which would be the first gain in the growth rate since 2010, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology said in a statement on its microblog.
· China must proactively but gradually reduce debt in the economy to prevent the buildup of financial risks, state news agency Xinhua quoted China’s central bank’s deputy governor as saying on Saturday.
Reference: Reuters, Techtimes
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