• The dollar steadied against the yen on Friday, losing steam after rising to a 10-day high, as the market endured the wait for a vote on a U.S. tax reform bill.
The greenback stretched overnight gains and initially climbed to 112.690 yen JPY=, its highest since Nov. 21, as Wall Street rallied and Treasury yields spiked after U.S. tax reform plans were seen progressing towards legislative approval following an endorsement by Senator John McCain.
But the dollar was last at 112.510 yen, unchanged on the day, after it was decided that the U.S. Senate will not vote on the tax bill late on Thursday night U.S. time but would continue the debate on Friday.
The dollar index against a basket of six major currencies was 0.1 percent lower at 92.956 .DXY but poised to eke out a 0.2 percent gain for the week, during which it managed to pull away from a two-month low of 92.496.
The euro was little changed at $1.1908 EUR= after gaining about 0.5 percent the previous day.
• Senate Republicans delayed voting on their tax bill as a setback forced them to patch up the plan only hours before a planned final vote Thursday night.
Senators will rework the legislation through the evening with the next in a series of roll call votes set for 11 a.m. on Friday, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said. Republicans had previously hoped they could pass a plan by late Thursday or early Friday.
A hiccup earlier Thursday left the GOP scrambling to tweak its bill and win over skeptical senators. The delay does not necessarily mean Republicans will lack the votes to pass the legislation on Friday.
• The Caixin/Markit Manufacturing Purchasing Manager’s Index (PMI) dipped to 50.8 from 51.0 in October, but was roughly in line with economists’ expectations for a slight drop to 50.9.
While the index remained above the 50-point mark that devides growth from contraction on a monthly basis, it was the weakest reading since June and signaled only a marginal improvement in operating conditions.
• North Korea’s latest missile test places Washington within range, but it still needs to prove critical missile technology, such as re-entry, terminal stage guidance and warhead activation, South Korea said on Friday.
But South Korea said it expected Pyongyang to now pause its provocative missile testing programme, after the success of its new Hwasong-15 missile that can fly far enough to hit the U.S. mainland
• Oil futures rose on Friday after OPEC and other major producers agreed to extend their production curbs in a widely expected move aimed at ending a persistent glut in global supplies.
U.S. crude futures CLc1 were up 17 cents, or 0.3 percent, at $57.57, as of 0635 GMT. Brent February crude futures LCOc1 rose 24 cents to $62.87.
• Asian refiners are losing no time reacting to a decision by OPEC and Russia to extend their agreed production cuts to all of 2018, ordering more oil from the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico in a move that will result in lost OPEC and Russian market share.
Reference: Reuters, CNBC
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