• The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of currencies, last traded at 95.961, after seeing a high above 96.15 in the previous session.
The Japanese yen was at 112.41 against the greenback after strengthening from the 112.7 handle yesterday.
• Sterling gained half a percent versus the dollar and euro on Tuesday after Ireland’s RTE News reported that the European Union may offer Britain a UK-wide customs union.
Reuters had reported on Monday that EU negotiators were looking at ways to promise Britain a customs deal.
The pound rose from just below $1.30 GBP=D3 to as high as $1.3044 after the report, up 0.6 percent on the day.
• The prime minister had told parliament on Monday that the Brexit deal with Brussels was 95 percent complete, and she urged restive lawmakers to back her in the final stages of Britain’s exit from the EU, saying talks were in their most difficult phase.
• A three-week stock market sell-off may signal concerns that the massive stimulus from U.S. tax cuts and government spending will fade sooner than expected, a central issue for the Federal Reserve as it considers when to halt interest rate hikes.
For now, a more than 7 percent fall this month in the S&P 500 index, which on Tuesday tumbled to July levels, is unlikely to derail plans for more U.S. monetary tightening in December, according to Fed policymakers.
Yet the sell-off, propelled by worries over rising tariffs and earnings of U.S. companies doing business in China, could begin to convince the Fed to scale back plans to continue rate rises next year and even in 2020.
• President Donald Trump directly accused Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell of endangering the U.S. economy by raising interest rates, according to The Wall Street Journal.
"I'm just saying this: I'm very unhappy with the Fed because Obama had zero interest rates," Trump told the Journal on Tuesday. "Every time we do something great, he raises the interest rates."
• Washington will press ahead with a plan to quit a landmark nuclear arms control pact despite objections from Russia and some European countries, senior U.S. official John Bolton said on Tuesday, after meeting Russian President Vladimir Putin.
• The United States sent two warships through the Taiwan Strait on Monday in the second such operation this year, as the U.S. military increases the frequency of transits through the strategic waterway despite opposition from China.
The voyage risks further heightening tensions with China but will likely be viewed in self-ruled Taiwan as a sign of support from President Donald Trump’s government amid growing friction between Taipei and Beijing.
• President Donald Trump said on Tuesday Saudi authorities staged the “worst cover-up ever” in the killing of prominent journalist Jamal Khashoggi this month, as the United States vowed to revoke the visas of some of those believed to be responsible.
• Companies will suffer and criminals could benefit from the inevitable border disruption that will ensue if Britain leaves the European Union without a deal, the country’s public spending watchdog said on Wednesday.
In its report, “The UK border: preparedness for EU exit”, the National Audit Office (NAO) said there was not enough time to put fully effective border operations in place for a no-deal Brexit by March 29 and businesses would pay the price.
• Oil prices plunged about 5 percent on Tuesday to two-month lows as a sell-off in global equity markets raised worries about demand growth and after Saudi Arabia said it could supply more crude quickly if needed, easing concerns ahead of U.S. sanctions on Iran.
Brent crude futures LCOc1 fell 4.3 percent, or $3.39, to settle at $76.44 a barrel after plunging 5 percent to $75.88, the lowest since Sept. 7.
U.S. crude CLc1 ended the session at $66.43 a barrel, down $2.93, after falling 5.2 percent to a session low of $65.74, the lowest level since Aug. 20. If U.S. crude drops below $65, a psychologically important figure, that could trigger further technical selling, traders said.
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