• The dollar eased against a basket of currencies on Wednesday, while commodity-linked currencies such as the Canadian dollar were underpinned by this week’s rally in oil prices.
The U.S. dollar eased 0.1 percent against a basket of six major currencies to 93.188.
Moves among major currencies were subdued, with the euro inching up 0.2 percent to $1.1876. The dollar held steady against the yen at 113.19 yen.
• Cryptocurrency entrepreneur Julian Hosp says bitcoin's rapid rise isn't over yet. But there's a catch.
"I think we're going to see bitcoin hitting the $60,000 mark, but I also think we're going to see bitcoin hitting the $5,000 mark," said Hosp, co-founder and president of TenX, a firm that wants to make it easier for people to spend virtual currencies.
Numerous high-profile critics and several national governments have warned of the dangers of investing in cryptocurrencies, which they say are likely to crash because nothing underpins their value.
• China’s trade deficit in services widened to $18.3 billion in November from $17.8 billion in October, the foreign exchange regulator said on Wednesday.
The deficit was largely due to a $14.9 billion gulf in spending between foreign tourists and the Chinese, who splurge more abroad than do visitors to China, data from the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE) showed.
For the January-November period, China’s services trade deficit stood at $234.8 billion, versus a gap of $216.5 billion for January-October.
• Oil prices on Wednesday remained near two-and-a-half year highs from the previous session as the market outlook for 2018 is relatively tight, although the gradual resumption of flows through a major North Sea pipeline prevented crude from rising.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were at $59.87 a barrel at 0754 GMT, down 10 cents from their last settlement. WTI broke through $60 a barrel for the first time since June 2015 in the previous session.
Brent crude futures were at $66.80 a barrel, down 22 cents after breaking through $67 for the first time since May 2015 the previous day.
• Armed men blew up a Libyan pipeline pumping crude oil to Es Sider port on Tuesday, reducing the North African country’s output by around 90,000 barrels a day, military and oil sources said.
The attackers arrived at the site near Marada in two cars and planted explosives on the pipeline, a military source said.
Reference: Reuters, CNBC
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