• The dollar rose against a basket of currencies on Tuesday, rebounding from a two-month low hit the previous day, helped by strong U.S. data and as Federal Reserve chair nominee Jerome Powell signalled that the central bank is likely to raise interest rates again next month.
Data on Tuesday showed U.S consumer confidence surged to a near 17-year high in November, driven by a robust labour market.
The dollar index, which measures the greenback against six rival currencies, was up 0.36 percent at 93.24.
• Britain and the EU have reached agreement on a Brexit divorce bill which is likely to finally total around 50 billion euros, British newspapers reported on Tuesday, potentially heralding a breakthrough in the negotiations.
The pound rose as high as $1.3386 on the news in the overnight session after trading as low as $1.3219. The currency pared some gains to trade at $1.3376 at 8:28a.m. HK/SIN.
• U.S. Senate Republicans rammed forward President Donald Trump’s tax cut bill on Tuesday in an abrupt, partisan committee vote that set up a full vote by the Senate as soon as Thursday, although some details of the measure remained unsettled.
Republican committee members quickly left the room after the vote as Democrats complained about a lack of discussion on a bill that would overhaul the U.S. tax code and add an estimated $1.4 trillion to the $20 trillion national debt over 10 years.
Republican Senator Ron Johnson voted for the bill in the budget committee, even though he had said it does not cut taxes deeply enough for some non-corporate businesses.
• The intercontinental ballistic missile launched by North Korea on Tuesday has the power to reach Washington, D.C. — and much of the rest of the United States, experts said.
In contrast, Pyongyang's earlier ICBM test in late July was believed to be capable of hitting a bit more than half of the continental U.S., but not Washington.
The latest ICBM, fired during the middle of the night in North Korea, soared as high as 4,500 kilometers above Earth and landed nearly 1,000 km from its launch site, falling into the Sea of Japan. During the 50-minute test, the missile "went higher, frankly, than any previous shot they've taken," said Defense Secretary James Mattis.
• Congress is likely to miss a Dec. 8 deadline for passing legislation funding a wide range of federal government programs through Sept. 30, 2018, kicking the contentious debate into next year, a senior U.S. House of Representatives aide said on Tuesday.
• A U.S. district court on Tuesday denied a temporary restraining order to prevent President Donald Trump from naming an interim director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
A lawsuit requesting the temporary restraining order was filed by Leandra English, an Obama-era appointee and deputy director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau who claims to be the rightful acting director the agency.
On Tuesday, Judge Timothy Kelly said the agency was part of the executive branch and he saw nothing in the law that prevented budget director Mick Mulvaney from holding the two positions.
• Oil prices eased on Tuesday, weighed down by uncertainty over the outcome of an OPEC meeting this week at which an extension to its price-supporting oil output cuts will be discussed.
Brent crude oil LCOc1 ended the session down 23 cents, or 0.4 percent, at $63.61 a barrel. U.S. crude CLc1 settled 12 cents, or 0.2 percent lower at $57.99, after falling 1.4 percent in the previous session.
• OPEC and Russia are heading towards prolonging their oil supply cuts for the whole of 2018 but with an option to review the deal in June, OPEC sources said on Tuesday after Moscow expressed concerns the market could overheat.
Reference: Reuters, CNBC
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