• The dollar treaded water against its peers on Wednesday, capped as U.S. Treasury yields failed to rise despite increasing investor risk appetite in broader financial markets.
The dollar index against a basket of six major currencies was little changed at 93.941.
The greenback was a shade lower at 112.280 yen, after slipping overnight from a high of 112.705.
• The U.S. currency is set to have a disappointing 2018 against the euro despite the Federal Reserve continuing its current cycle of rate hikes into next year, according to currency experts at UBS.
A rise in benchmark rates is usually beneficial for the dollar as more people flock to U.S. assets in anticipation of higher yields. But Swiss investment bank and financial services group UBS believes the euro will out-muscle anything the greenback does next year. So far in 2017, the euro is up nearly 11.5 percent against the dollar.
The strategists, writing in its 2018 global foreign exchange outlook released on Tuesday, said that comparatively the euro "remains cheap" and that "strong growth should catalyse appreciation." The euro has risen against the dollar this year amid improving economic data and a central bank that has just begun to reduce its mammoth package of monthly asset purchases.
• The ongoing political turmoil in Germany could actually benefit Chancellor Angela Merkel, a political analyst told CNBC Tuesday.
There have been reports that the current political impasse in Germany is affecting the popularity of the German leader, but according to Peter Matuschek, chief political analyst at polling company Forsa, "it's quite the opposite."
"If we look at the polls, about half of the Germans want her to stay in power, want her to run again if there would be new elections, so I think she could even benefit from the situation as she forged an image as crisis manager during her three terms in office," Matuschek said.
• The United States on Tuesday imposed sanctions against 13 Chinese and North Korean organisations Washington accused of helping evade nuclear restrictions against Pyongyang and supporting the country through trade of commodities like coal.
• The United States, Mexico and Canada failed to resolve any major differences in a fifth round of talks to rework the NAFTA trade deal, drawing a swift complaint from the Trump administration on Tuesday that the lack of progress could doom the process.
The three nations have vowed to continue talks on the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) through March, but the yawning disagreements on core U.S. demands are piling pressure on negotiators to come up with fixes before Mexico’s 2018 presidential campaign begins in the spring.
• Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen stuck by her prediction that U.S. inflation will soon rebound but offered on Tuesday an unusually strong caveat: she is “very uncertain” about this and is open to the possibility that prices could remain low for years to come.
• Oil prices rose on Wednesday as ongoing cuts of piped Canadian crude to the United States added to falling U.S. crude inventories, while expectations of a prolonged OPEC-led production cut also offered support.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were at $57.68 a barrel at 0454 GMT, up 85 cents, or 1.5 percent from their last settlement.
Brent crude futures LCOc1, the international benchmark for oil prices, were at $62.97 per barrel, up 40 cents, or 0.6 percent.
Reference: Reuters, CNBC, Bloomberg
Thai
Eng