• U.S. President Donald Trump warned House Republican lawmakers that he will leave Obamacare in place and move on to tax reform if they do not get behind new healthcare legislation and support it in a vote on Friday.
Conservatives felt the bill did not go far enough to repeal Obamacare and moderates felt the plan could hurt their constituents. House Republican leaders had signaled they were ready to work through the weekend to figure out a way to reconcile their differences.
• The Trump administration is preparing new executive orders to re-examine all 14 U.S. free trade agreements and review government procurement policies to aid American companies, two administration officials said.
• The European Central Bank warned on Thursday that banks need to boost their profitability and business models amid the risks that the sector faces.
The high level of non-performing loans across the euro area and geopolitical uncertainty, including the British departure from the European Union are "major risks" to the banking sector, the ECB said in its annual report on supervisory activities.
ECB officials are closely following how the most exposed banks to Brexit are monitoring the risks. Until now they have not identified significant funding or operational risks, but the political uncertainty could harm investments, the central bank said in the report.
• Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda said on Friday there is "no reason" to withdraw the bank's massive monetary stimulus now, or raise its bond yield targets, as inflation remains far from its 2 percent goal.2
Kuroda also dismissed financial market concerns that the BOJ will eventually lose its ability to control long-term interest rates under its yield-curve-control framework.
"I don't think we need to raise our interest-rate targets now," Kuroda said at a Reuters Newsmaker event.
But he added: "If inflation in Japan accelerates sharply, at some point the BOJ may debate adjusting its interest-rate target."
• Oil prices edged up on Friday, supported by a fall in Saudi exports to the United States, but overall markets remained under pressure on the back of a world market awash with fuel.
Prices for front-month Brent crude futures LCOc1, the international benchmark for oil, were at $50.63 per barrel at 0343 GMT, up 7 cents from their last close.
In the United States, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures CLc1 were up 12 cents at $47.82 a barrel.
Traders said the lift in prices came as a report that Saudi Arabia's crude exports to the United States in March would fall by around 300,000 barrels per day (bpd) from February, in line with OPEC's agreement to reduce supply.
• "Without the production cut agreement, I think you could basically target the low-to-mid $30s. I'm of the mind they extend it," said Gene Marcial, manager market research at Tradition Energy. "The Saudis need the revenues from higher oil prices. They know that prices at $30 to $35 is trouble for them."
• JPMorgan Thursday reduced its price forecast for the second half, taking its 2017 target to $55.75 per barrel for Brent from an earlier forecast of $58.75. It lowered Brent for 2018 to $55.60 per barrel, from $60 per barrel.
Reference: Reuters, CNBC ,
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