• The U.S. dollar bounced to a two-week top on Monday as traders celebrated the passage of a Senate tax bill over the weekend, while stronger U.S. stock futures pointed to a merry start for Asian shares.
The greenback jumped 0.7 percent JPY= in early Asian trade to as far as 112.98 yen, the highest since Nov. 17. It climbed 0.5 percent last week, a welcome reprieve to bulls after three straight sessions of losses.
The euro EUR= slipped 0.2 percent, while the British pound GBP= edged 0.1 percent higher on media reports that a deal was near on the terms of the Brexit divorce.
• Bitcoin BTC=BTSP jumped to an all-time high of $11,800 after the U.S. derivatives regulator allowed CME Group (CME.O) and CBOE Global Markets (CBOE.O) to list bitcoin futures
• U.S. President Donald Trump said on Saturday that actions by former national security adviser Michael Flynn during the presidential transition were lawful, and that he had had to fire him because Flynn had lied to the FBI and the vice president.
The president’s comment suggested he may have known Flynn lied to the FBI before he urged the FBI director not to investigate his former adviser, legal experts said. But they noted that it was unclear from the tweeted comment exactly what the president knew when.
Flynn is the first member of Trump’s administration to plead guilty to a crime uncovered by special counsel Robert Mueller’s wide-ranging investigation into Russian attempts to influence last year’s U.S. presidential election and possible collusion by Trump aides.
President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner and former adviser K.T. McFarland were the Trump transition officials who spoke to former U.S. national security adviser Michael Flynn about his contacts with Russian officials, CNN reported Friday.
• The U.S. Senate narrowly approved a tax overhaul on Saturday, moving Republicans and President Donald Trump a big step closer to their goal of slashing taxes for businesses and the rich while offering everyday Americans a mixed bag of changes.
In what would be the largest change to U.S. tax laws since the 1980s, Republicans want to add $1.4 trillion over 10 years to the $20 trillion national debt to finance changes that they say would further boost an already growing economy.
Once the Senate and House of Representatives reconcile their respective versions of the legislation, he said, the resulting bill could cut the corporate tax rate from 35 percent “to 20 (percent). It could be 22 (percent) when it comes out. It could also be 20 (percent).”
• Oil prices settled up slightly on Friday, but came off session highs as financial markets reeled from an ABC News report that added to concerns about President Donald Trump’s exposure to a probe into Russian meddling in last year’s campaign.
Brent futures settled at $63.73 a barrel, putting the new front month February contract up 16 cents from where January expired on Thursday. The February futures contract was up about 1.8 percent from where it closed in the previous session.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude gained 96 cents, or 1.7 percent, to settle at $58.36 per barrel. WTI’s January contract does not expire till Dec. 19.
Reference: Reuters
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