• New U.S. single-family home sales rose in May and the median sales price surged to an all-time high, suggesting the housing market had regained momentum.
The Commerce Department said on Friday new home sales increased 2.9 percent to a seasonally adjusted rate of 610,000 units last month. April's sales pace was also revised sharply higher to 593,000 units from 569,000units.
• The dollar sagged against its major peers on Monday, losing traction as U.S. Treasury yields stayed low amid fading expectations that the Federal Reserve to hike interest rates again later this year.
The dollar index against a basket of six major currencies was a fraction lower at 97.239 .DXY, adding to Friday's losses when it fell 0.4 percent.
The greenback was down 0.1 percent at 111.235 yen JPY=, taking another step away from a near one-month high of 111.790 touched last Tuesday.
The euro added 0.05 percent to $1.1198 EUR= after rising on Friday to a four-day high of $1.1209.
• U.S. data due this week include the June consumer confidence indicator, pending home sales, crude oil inventories, revised first quarter GDP and the PCE price index.
• One of the Federal Reserve's more hawkish policymakers said on Friday that recent inflation weakness was likely temporary and it should not delay another interest-rate hike this year, even though there is no "immediate need" to tighten policy.
The U.S. economy is on a sound footing so the Federal Reserve must continue raising interest rates so as to avoid employment or inflation getting out of hand and causing a recession, Cleveland Fed President Loretta Mester said on Friday.
• The economic impact of any fiscal or tax policy changes the Trump administration may enact now will not be felt until late next year or 2019, a Federal Reserve policymaker said on Friday, evidence of the hurdles the White House faces in boosting growth.
"The earliest you would have meaningful impact is the second half of 2018 or into 2019," said St. Louis Fed bank president James Bullard, meaning the Fed will not have to change a policy outlook currently based around continued 2 percent economic growth.
• U.S. Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said on Sunday that he sees a 50 percent probability that Republicans will be able to pass their healthcare bill.
"I think they have at best a 50-50 chance of passing this bill," he said in an interview with ABC's "This Week."
• The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, called on Prime Minister Theresa May on Sunday to set up a cross-party commission to "draw much of the poison" from the debate over Britain's decision to exit the European Union.
In an article written for the Mail on Sunday newspaper, Welby, spiritual leader of the Anglican Communion of millions of Christians globally, said Britons remain deeply divided over Brexit after negotiations got under way last week.
• The Bank of Japan must communicate its policy intentions clearly to avoid improvements in the economy to trigger expectations of a near-term withdrawal of monetary stimulus, one board member was quoted as saying at the bank's June 15-16 rate review.
"As the economy continues to improve, the BOJ needs to be accountable for its thinking on monetary policy to avoid raising concern among market participants," the board member said, according to a summary of opinions at the June policy meeting released on Monday.
• Oil futures edged higher on Friday with a lift from a weaker dollar, but finished a fifth straight week lower as OPEC-led production cuts have failed to substantially reduce a global crude glut.
Brent futures LCOc1 settled up 32 cents, or 0.7 percent, to $45.54 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude (WTI) CLc1 ended up 27 cents, or 0.6 percent, at $43.01 per barrel.
For the week, both benchmarks lost 3.9 percent, and oil currently sits just off 10-month lows, beset by ongoing worries about rising production. The five-week slide represents the longest stretch of weekly declines for the front-month contracts since August 2015.
Reference: Reuters
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