• The dollar was living on borrowed time on Friday after U.S. lawmakers delayed a vote on a healthcare bill seen as crucial to President Donald Trump's policy credibility.
The net result was a contraction in the dollar's yield advantage over the euro, which has seen the single currency steady at $1.0777 EUR= after scoring a six-week top of $1.0828 earlier this week.
The dollar was a fraction firmer on the yen at 111.11 JPY=, having hit a four-month low of 110.62. Against a basket of currencies, it was crouched at 99.843 .DXY having shed 1.5 percent in the past two weeks.
• U.S. President Donald Trump will get a second chance to try to close the deal with Republican lawmakers on dismantling Obamacare in a high-stakes vote on a new healthcare bill rescheduled for Friday.
Failure to pass the American Health Care Act would cast doubt on Trump's ability to deliver other parts of his agenda that need the cooperation of the Republican-controlled Congress, including ambitious plans to overhaul the tax code and invest in infrastructure.
The U.S. House of Representatives had been scheduled to vote on the bill on Thursday, but leaders put off the vote after failing to find enough support among Republicans to pass it.
• The Trump administration is preparing new executive orders to re-examine all 14 U.S. free trade agreements and review government procurement policies to aid American companies, two administration officials said.
• Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen did not address monetary policy or the economic outlook in prepared remarks for a childhood education conference in Washington on Thursday.
• New U.S. single-family home sales jumped to a seven-month high in February, suggesting the housing market recovery was gaining momentum despite higher prices and rising mortgage rates.
The Commerce Department said new home sales increased 6.1 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 592,000 units last month, the highest level since July 2016. Sales have now more than recouped the sharp drop suffered in December.
• The Labor Department said initial claims for state unemployment benefits increased 15,000 to a seasonally adjusted 258,000 for the week ended March 18.
Claims have now been below 300,000, a threshold associated with a healthy labor market for 80 straight weeks. That is the longest stretch since 1970 when the labor market was smaller. The job market is currently near full employment.
• Oil prices extended their streak of losses on Thursday, as traders focused on the persistent oversupply of crude in the global market that has weighed on prices in recent years. May West Texas Intermediate crude CLK7, +0.29% lost 34 cents, or 0.7%, to settle at $47.70 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. May Brent crude LCOK7, +0.24% fell 8 cents, or 0.2%, to $50.56 a barrel on London’s ICE Futures exchange.
Reference: Reuters, Market Watch
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