· The dollar wallowed near a one-month low against a basket of currencies on Friday, while commodity currencies such as the Australian and Canadian dollars were at two-month highs thanks to firmer energy and metals prices.
The dollar index against a basket of six major currencies was unchanged at 92.602 after slipping 0.4 percent overnight to 92.573, its lowest since Nov. 27.
The index was on track to lose 0.5 percent this month.
The dollar was 0.1 pct lower at 112.735 yen. It had slipped to a nine-day low of 112.660 overnight, having gone as high as 113.750 on Dec. 12. It was headed to lose3.5 percent against its Japanese peer in 2017.
The euro was steady at $1.1947 and in close reach of a one-month high of $1.1959 scaled the previous day. It has gained 0.3 percent in December.
· President Donald Trump said on Thursday he believes he will be fairly treated in a special counsel investigation into Russian meddling in the U.S. presidential election, but said he did not know how long the probe would last.
· Growth in China’s sprawling manufacturing sector likely slowed only slightly in December despite tough pollution measures that have forced some factories to curb production and a cooling housing market, a Reuters poll showed.
The official manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) on Sunday is expected to dip marginally to 51.6 for December from an unexpectedly solid 51.8 in November, according to a median forecast of 30 economists polled by Reuters.
While the reading is seen softening, it would still suggest the 18th straight month of expansion for China’s manufacturers, which are posting their strongest profits in years thanks to a building boom and resurgent export demand. The 50-mark divides expansion from contraction on a monthly basis.
· South Korea has seized a Hong Kong-flagged vessel suspected of transferring oil to North Korea in defiance of international sanctions, a foreign ministry official said on Friday.
· U.S. oil prices hit their highest since mid-2015 on the final trading day of the year as an unexpected fall in American output and a fall in commercial crude inventories stoked buying.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were at $60.21 a barrel at 0806 GMT, up 37 cents or 0.6 percent from their last close, after hitting a June 2015 high of $60.32 earlier in the day.
Brent crude futures - the international benchmark - were also up, rising 45 cents or 0.7 percent to $66.61 a barrel. Brent broke through $67 earlier this week for the first time since May 2015.
Reference: Reuters, CNBC
Thai
Eng