• The number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits increased slightly last week, but remains at levels consistent with a tight labor market.
Initial claims for state unemployment benefits increased 3,000 to a seasonally adjusted 241,000 for the week ended June 17, the Labor Department said on Thursday.
Jobless claims for the prior week were revised upwards by 1,000 to 238,000 from 237,000. The week's tally is the 120th consecutive week that claims have been below 300,000, the threshold associated with a strong labor market. It's the longest stretch that claims have remained below that level since 1970.
Following the report, the dollar held at slightly lower levels against a basket of currencies while U.S. Treasuries were little changed.
• The dollar was little changed early on Friday as traders marked time ahead of next week's U.S. inflation-linked indicators, while commodity currencies like the Canadian dollar held to gains following a bounce in crude oil prices. The dollar index against a basket of major currencies stood little changed at 97.547.
The index peaked at a one-month high of 97.871 early in the week after the Federal Reserve hiked interest rates last week and left the door open for further monetary tightening later in the year. But it has been stuck in a tight range since, awaiting fresh catalysts.
The dollar was flat at 111.290 yen. It had scaled a near one-month peak of 111.790 on Tuesday before edging down in tandem with U.S. yields, which were nudged lower by falling oil prices.
The euro was also steady, at $1.1150. It was poised to lose about 0.4 percent this week.
• U.S. data due next week include the June consumer confidence indicator, pending home sales, crude oil inventories, revised first quarter GDP and the PCE price index.
• U.S. Senate Republicans on Thursday unveiled legislation that would replace Obamacare with a plan that scales back aid to the poor and kills a tax on the wealthy, but the bill's fate was quickly thrown into question as several senators voiced skepticism.
Four conservative lawmakers said they could not support it in its current form, leaving Republicans short of the votes they need for passage. Democrats are united in opposition.
• U.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday he did not make and does not possess any tapes of his conversations with James Comey, after suggesting last month he might have recordings that could damage the former FBI director.
• Oil rose on Thursday, a day after hitting 10-month lows, but market sentiment remained negative because the global crude glut has persisted despite OPEC-led output cuts.
* Brent crude futures ended 40 cents higher to $45.22 a barrel, after falling as low as $44.53. Brent fell 2.6percent the previous session to $44.35, lowest since November.
* U.S. crude futures ended up 21 cents a barrel at $42.74 a barrel. On Wednesday, they hit a low of $42.05, their lowest intraday level since August 2016.
• Crude has dropped around 20 percent since late February, erasing gains after OPEC and other countries agreed to cut crude output 1.8 million barrels per day (bpd) for the first six months of 2017.
Last month, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and other producers extended the output cut deal for nine months. But the global crude glut has persisted, with output rising in Libya and Nigeria, OPEC members exempt from the cuts.
Reference: Reuters
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