· The dollar eased against the yen on Friday after a report suggested that Japan would be the next country with which U.S. President Donald Trump will take up trade issues.
The U.S. currency held in relatively tight ranges against other major peers such as the euro and pound, with the market bracing for the highly anticipated U.S. jobs report due later in the session.
The dollar extended overnight losses and last traded at 110.57 yen for a loss of 0.17 percent.
The dollar index against a basket of six major currencies was little changed at 95.05 after losing about 0.2 percent on Thursday, pulling further back from a two-week peak scaled on Tuesday amid turmoil in emerging market currencies.
The euro was 0.05 percent weaker at $1.1617, having gained about 0.15 percent this week.
China’s yuan was down 0.2 percent at 6.8410 in onshore trade .
· The Trump administration is expected to enact tariffs on an additional $200 billion worth of Chinese imports to the US.
Some companies say they will have to immediately lay off employees to absorb the cost.
Others warn they may have to shut down completely.
Win Cramer, the chief executive of an American audio products business, felt he was visibly anxious as he addressed a panel of US Trade Representative officials at a public hearing in Washington last month.
Because JLab could not afford to absorb the costs of a 25% tax on Chinese imports and has contractual price commitments with customers, Cramer said the company would have no choice but to cut its staff. It would immediately have to lay off 12% of employees, he lamented, with more to follow.
· President Donald Trump said on Thursday a possible shutdown of the U.S. government over border wall funding “most likely” would not happen until after the November congressional elections.
Trump has repeatedly threatened to shut down the government when funding runs out on Sept. 30 if the U.S. Congress does not include enough money for a wall on the border with Mexico.
· Some of America’s most prominent technology companies and retailers made a last-minute push to convince President Donald Trump to reverse course on a plan to impose tariffs on $200 billion in Chinese imports.
Members of the public had until Thursday to comment on the administration’s plan to slap tariffs on everything from bicycles and baseball gloves to digital cameras, paving the way for Trump to announce the tariffs as early as Friday.
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· A Bloomberg survey of economists sees the European Central Bank (ECB) President Mario Draghi raising the deposit rate by September 2019, just before his terms expires in October 2019.
“With asset purchases about to conclude in December, most respondents predict the European Central Bank president will increase the deposit rate by September next year, to minus 0.2 percent from minus 0.4 percent.
· Mexico wants to end to a tariff dispute over steel and aluminum with the United States prior to signing off on a reworked trade agreement with its northern neighbor, Mexican Economy Minister Ildefonso Guajardo said on Thursday.
· Germany's factory activity slowed unexpectedly in July, offering more evidence that President Donald Trump's aggressive trade rhetoric is affecting confidence.
The German Federal Statistics Office reported Thursday that industrial orders for July fell 0.9 percent from the previous month. A consensus forecast of economists gathered by Reuters had predicted a rise of 1.8 percent.
The main driver was a decrease in foreign orders, which fell 3.4 percent from June to July. Orders for German goods from outside the euro area were down 4.0 percent.
Trump has singled out German exports for criticism, arguing that they benefit from an artificially low euro and act as a brake on U.S. domestic production. The U.S. president has threatened tariffs on Germany's influential auto sector.
· Japan would consider the need for an extra budget in the current fiscal year to support areas devastated by a recent chain of natural disasters, Finance Minister Taro Aso said on Friday, which could complicate efforts to restore tattered public finances.
Aso’s comment comes as a powerful quake struck the northern island of Hokkaido on Thursday, the second disaster to hit Japan this week after a summer in which the country has been battered by deadly typhoons, flooding and a record heat wave.
· There is “lots of evidence” that chemical weapons are being prepared by Syrian government forces in Idlib in northwest Syria, the new U.S. adviser for Syria said on Thursday, as he warned of the risks of an offensive on the country’s last big rebel enclave.
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· Crude oil main bull trend took a breather this week as the market pulled back past $68.00 a barrel down to 67.00.
Crude oil fell very fast to 67.00 after which bargain-hunter bulls supported the market and lifted it almost back to 68.00 in a few hours creating a sell-climax and a bullish reversal in the process.
As it stands bulls are working hard in order to retake control of the market and a break above back 68.00 would be seen as another bullish clue which can target 69.30 August 24 high.
· Oil prices held steady on Friday as a fall in U.S. crude inventories to the lowest levels since 2015 supported the market, although Sino-U.S. trade tensions and economic weakness from emerging markets remained a concern.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures CLc1 were at $67.93 per barrel at 0654 GMT, up 16 cent from their last settlement.
International Brent crude futures LCOc1 were up 8 cents at $76.58 a barrel.
Reference: Reuters, CNBC, DailyFX,Bloomberg
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