• New orders for key U.S.-made capital goods unexpectedly fell in May and shipments also declined, suggesting a loss of momentum in the manufacturing sector halfway through the second quarter.
The Commerce Department said on Monday that non-defense capital goods orders excluding aircraft, a closely watched proxy for business spending plans, dropped 0.2 percent, the largest decline since December.
• The dollar stood tall on Tuesday, pushing to a one-month high against the yen as investors waited to see if Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen would stick to her positive economic outlook at an event later in the global session.
• The Fed chair is scheduled to take part in a discussion on global economic issues at London's Royal Academy, and is seen likely to stick to her positive views on the U.S. economy despite a recent batch of weak U.S. economic data, supporting the Fed's forecast of raising interest rates once more this year.
• "Hedge funds are already selling yen this week, and positive comments from Yellen could give them an excuse to sell even more," said Kaneo Ogino, director at foreign exchange research firm Global-info Co in Tokyo.
That selling helped the dollar touch a fresh one-month high of 111.95 yen early on Tuesday. It was last up 0.1 percent at 111.94 yen.
• U.S. data on Monday gave investors reason to be cautious about buying the dollar. New orders for key U.S.-made capital goods unexpectedly fell in May and shipments also declined, suggesting a loss of momentum in the manufacturing sector halfway through the second quarter.
• After the weak data raised concerns about falling inflation and lacklustre growth, long-dated U.S. Treasury bond yields dropped to seven-month lows and the yield curve between five-year notes and 30-year bonds fell to its flattest level since 2007.
• Still, Fed officials doggedly stuck to their hawkish scripts. San Francisco Fed President John Williams said on Monday that a recent slowdown in U.S. inflation was mainly due to one-off factors and should not prevent further increases in rates.
• U.S. banking regulators have room to ease some of the sweeping restrictions put in place after the financial crisis of 2007-2009, but the core rules for the biggest firms need to stay, Federal Reserve Governor Jerome Powell said on Monday.
• The euro licked its wounds after contrastingly dovish comments from European Central Bank President Mario Draghi. It was last steady on the day at $1.1180, above its overnight low of $1.1172 (0.8782 pounds).
Draghi's remarks in a town-hall session with university students in Lisbon included saying that super low rates create jobs, foster growth and benefit borrowers. He rejected calls to exit super easy monetary policy quickly, arguing that premature tightening would lead to a fresh recession and more inequality.
• The dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of six major rivals, was flat on the day at 97.432.
• Britain’s Conservatives signed a deal on Monday with Northern Ireland’s Democratic Unionist Party that will allow Prime Minister Theresa May to govern after losing her majority in a general election this month. The deal, reported to provide Northern Ireland with additional funding of about $2 billion over five years.
• Oil prices settled more than half a percent higher on Monday as some traders found bargains after last week's seven-month lows, but rising crude supply in the United States and other countries limited gains.
Brent crude futures settled up 29 cents, or 0.6 percent, at $45.83 a barrel. The benchmark was still set to end the first half of the year down nearly 20 percent.
U.S. crude futures were up 37 cents, or 0.8 percent, at $43.38 a barrel.
Reference: Reuters, The New York
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