• The dollar extended recent weakness against a basket of major currencies to hit a fresh three-year low on Tuesday, after the euro surged on consumer confidence data indicating strong momentum in the region’s economy.
The dollar index, which measures the greenback against six rival currencies, was down 0.32 percent at 90.115, after slipping as low as 90.063, its lowest since December 2014.
The euro was up 0.29 percent to $1.2295 against the greenback.
• U.S. President Donald Trump signed into law a steep tariff on imported solar panels on Tuesday, a move billed as a way to protect American jobs but which the solar industry said would lead to thousands of layoffs and raise consumer prices.
The 30 percent tariff on solar panels is among the first unilateral trade restrictions imposed by the administration as part of a broader protectionist agenda to help U.S. manufacturers, but which has alarmed Asian trading partners that produce lower cost goods. The administration also introduced a tariff on imported washing machines.
But the solar industry countered that the move will raise the cost of installing panels, quash billions of dollars of investment, and kill tens of thousands of jobs, raising questions about whether Trump’s move will backfire by triggering mass layoffs.
• Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said on Wednesday he would attend the Pyeongchang Olympics in South Korea next month, after reports he would not attend due to a dispute over “comfort women” forced to work in Japan’s wartime military brothels.
• Special counsel Robert Mueller has indicated interest in questioning President Donald Trump about his dismissals of former FBI Director James Comey and former national security adviser Michael Flynn, two sources familiar with the matter told CNN.
The sources cautioned against presuming the President would sit down with Mueller in the next few weeks, saying there is much to be negotiated still.
• U.S. President Donald Trump will meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, British Prime Minister Theresa May, and other world leaders when he attends the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, this week, White House officials said on Tuesday.
Trump is due to take an overnight flight on Wednesday night to snowbound Davos, where he will encourage investment in the United States and cooperation on national security issues, including the fight against Islamic State and North Korea’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs.
• Officials opened a key round of negotiations to modernize NAFTA on Tuesday amidst optimistic signs, as U.S. President Donald Trump said the talks were going “pretty well” and Canada’s chief negotiator said he had high hopes for progress.
• Canada announced on Tuesday that, after a series of negotiations, it will join 10 other countries in signing a revised Trans-Pacific Partnership in March.
The deal, renamed Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, includes a renegotiated arrangement on autos with Japan and the suspension of intellectual property provisions that had been a concern for Canada.
The combined gross domestic product of the "CTPP ex-U.S." agreement amounts to $12.6 trillion, or 15.8 percent of world GDP. The TPP agreement, which collapsed after the United States pulled out, would have totaled $32 trillion in GDP, or 40 percent.
Still, the new deal without the United States will create a counter-balance to China's increasing economic dominance of the region.
• The global economy is expected to grow at a robust pace this year and reach an altitude not seen since 2010, as momentum builds in developed economies and inflation revives, Reuters polls of over 500 economists showed.
Major central banks are expected to move away from ultra-easy monetary policy this year, but borrowing costs are still accommodative and should underpin growth.
The global economy is predicted to grow 3.7 percent this year, the fastest since the 4.3 percent in 2010.
• Oil markets should reach balance after several years of supply glut some time in the third quarter of 2018, Qatari Energy Minister Mohammed al-Sada told Reuters on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos.
• Oil prices fell on Wednesday, weighed by data showing an increase in U.S. crude oil and gasoline inventories.
Brent crude futures were at $69.79 a barrel at 0749 GMT, down 17 cents from their last close.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were at $64.45 a barrel, down 2 cents from their last settlement.
Reference: Reuters,CNBC,FX Street
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