• The dollar limped off multi-month lows against major peers on Tuesday, with much of the lift from the "Trump trade" now gone.
The greenback had taken a beating as market participants saw the prospects for a U.S. fiscal spending boost from President Donald Trump significantly diminished by his failure to pass a key healthcare reform bill.
The dollar index against a basket of major currencies edged up 0.1 percent to 99.212, after plumbing a trough of 98.858 overnight, its lowest level since Nov. 11.
The euro was a shade higher at $1.0865, after scaling$1.0906 in the previous session, its loftiest peak since Nov. 11.
• Spicer noted that Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin has talked about August as a target date for tax legislation, but said the timetable could slip depending on how quickly a consensus could be reached.
• Chicago Federal Reserve President Charles Evans said Monday that inflation looks "well on its way" to reaching U.S. economic objectives.
Yet many uncertainties remain, particularly with the latest failure of the GOP's proposal to repeal and replace Obamacare, Evans warned.
During a speech at the Global Interdependence Center Central Banking Series held in Madrid on Monday, Evans said he still worries long-term inflation expectations are running below the Fed's 2 percent inflation objective.
• Centrist candidate Emmanuel Macron is expected to win France's presidential election, according to an Ipsos Sopra Steria poll released on Tuesday - the latest of many surveys showing the 39-year-old Macron as frontrunner.
The poll said that if the election were held next Sunday, far-right leader Marine Le Pen would have the most votes in the first round, at 25 percent, compared to 24 percent for Macron and 18 percent for conservative Francois Fillon.
However, Macron would go on to resoundingly beat Le Pen in the two-way decider vote on May 7, with 62 percent for Macron compared to 38 percent for Le Pen, added the poll.
• The European Central Bank (ECB) should be ready to change its monetary policy as inflation data start to meet targets, a member of the bank's executive board told CNBC on Monday.
Sabine Lautenschläger, member of the ECB's executive board, said the current loose monetary stance is necessary given current economic data, but added that she's hopeful that the numbers will improve by the next scheduled meeting in June.
Inflation, which is a key factor determining ECB policy, has improved over the last few months but core figures are still below the bank's target.
However, the latest headline inflation figures – which is a measure of total inflation and includes commodities like food - for the euro zone reached 2 percent in February, mainly driven by energy prices. The bank's target is to keep inflation close but below the 2 percent threshold.
• Britain's departure from the European Union will significantly hurt German firms' business with the United Kingdom and investment will decline strongly in the long term, the president of Germany's DIHK Chambers of Commerce said on Tuesday.
• U.S. President Donald Trump's push to force U.S. industry to bring jobs home is opening investment avenues for Chinese companies in Mexico, an executive with Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), the country's largest lender, said on Friday.
Fears of a hit to foreign investment ran high when Ford Motor Co (F.N) canceled a $1.6 billion plant in Mexico's central state of San Luis Potosi in January.
Yaogang Chen, head of ICBC's (601398.SS)() Mexico unit, said U.S. industry's loss could be China's gain. 1398.HK
• Oil prices rose on Tuesday, supported by a weaker dollar, but crude continued to be weighed down by surging U.S. production and uncertainty over whether an OPEC-led supply cut is big enough to rebalance the market.
Prices for front-month Brent crude futures LCOc1, the international benchmark for oil, had gained 18 cents from their last close to $50.93 per barrel by 0652 GMT.
In the United States, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures CLc1 were up 20 cents at $47.93 a barrel.
• Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh told reporters on Tuesday that a global oil cuts deal is likely to be extended, but that time is needed to discuss the subject thoroughly first.
"It seems that most of the OPEC and non-OPEC (countries) are going to extend the agreement, but time is needed to evaluate the situation and to have face-to-face meetings and discussions with others," Zanganeh, who was visiting Moscow, said.
Reference: Reuters, CNBC
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