• The dollar was flat on Friday as a Federal Reserve official's seemingly dovish remarks and uninspiring data on the U.S. economy "squelched" the sanguine mood from earlier this week.
The euro rebounded from a two-week trough, and the dollar fell to its low on the day against the Japanese yen after comments from New York Fed President William Dudley. Seen as one of the most important members of the Fed's rate-setting committee, Dudley said the central bank was in no rush to tighten monetary policy.
The dollar index, which tracks the greenback against six rival currencies, was little changed from its late Thursday levels at 100.39. Backed by early-week gains, however, it is headed for its best week since mid-February.
For the month, the dollar index fell 0.7 percent, its second fall in three months after three straight monthly gains to end 2016.
In early trade, the dollar slipped 0.2 percent to 111.20 yen JPY=. Uchida said it could fall below its four-month low of 110.10 yen touched last Monday.
The euro EUR= ticked up 0.2 percent to $1.0673, rebounding from Friday's two-week low of $1.0651 hit after data had shown inflation in the currency bloc had slowed by far more than expected in March.
• China called on the United States to respect international trade rules and improve cooperation and dialogue in reaction to two new orders by U.S. President Donald Trump calling for an investigation into trade abuses.
Trump signed executive orders on Friday aimed at investigating possible abuses causing large U.S. trade deficits and stopping import duty evasion.
• Activity at China's factories expanded for a ninth straight month in March but at a softer pace as new export orders slowed, a private survey showed, raising questions about whether a recent pickup in global demand is losing steam.
The Caixin/Markit Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' index (PMI) fell to 51.2 in March, missing economist forecasts' of 51.6 and down from February's 51.7.
While the index was still well above the 50.0 mark which separates expansion from contraction on a monthly basis, the rates of growth in output, total new orders, input and output prices all slipped in March from the previous month.
Growth in export orders slowed sharply, falling to a three-month low of 51.9 from 53.8 in February.
• Oil futures settled higher Friday, with U.S. prices holding ground at a more than three-week high, but still logging a loss of almost 6% for the first quarter, and traders questioned the sustainability of the OPEC-led production cut agreement and prospects for U.S. output growth.
May WTI crude CLK7, -0.02% rose 25 cents, or 0.5%, to settle at a more than three-week high of $50.60 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
May Brent oil UK:LCOK7 on London’s ICE Futures exchange fell by 13 cents, or 0.3%, to $52.83 a barrel, after a volatile trading session that ended with the contract’s expiration.
Reference: Reuters, Market Watch
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