• The dollar remained slightly above breakeven against a basket of major currencies on Monday, as investors mulled over the release of mixed economic data.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback's strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, added 0.03% to 100.45 by 13:06 EDT.
• The safe-haven Japanese yen gained broadly on Tuesday as a risk-averse mood spread through the broader markets, while the Australian dollar retreated to a three-week low after the country's central bank raised concerns about domestic labor conditions.
The dollar extended overnight losses and was down 0.4 percent at 110.440 yen JPY= after hitting 110.370, its lowest in a week.
The Australian dollar lost more than 0.3 percent to reach a three-week low of $0.7578.
• Far-right leader Le Pen has said that if she becomes president she would call a referendum on ditching the euro, dubbed "Frexit", finance state spending through central bank money-printing, force commercial banks to lend small firms and halve the maximum rates that banks can charge clients.
Opinion polls indicate she has a good chance of coming out on top of the first round of voting on April 23, with her share of the vote projected at 25-30 percent. But they see her losing to centrist Emmanuel Macron in a May 7 runoff.
• When U.S. President Donald Trump meets Chinese President Xi Jinping this week, their summit will be marked not only by deep policy divisions but a clash of personalities between America’s brash “tweeter-in-chief” and Beijing’s cautious, calculating leader.
Topping the agenda at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida will be whether he will make good on his threat to use crucial U.S.-China trade ties to pressure Beijing to do more to rein in its nuclear-armed neighbor North Korea, which is working to develop missiles capable of hitting the United States.
This summit should offer a study in contrasts: Trump impatient, outspoken and prone to angry tweet-storms; Xi, outwardly calm and measured, with no known social media presence.
• Top White House officials met moderate and conservative Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives on Monday in an effort to revive a plan to repeal and replace Obamacare.
The White House would like to see a revised bill come up for a vote as early as week's end, before the House breaks for a spring recess, and the text of the new proposal could be ready some time on Tuesday, lawmakers said.
• The European Central Bank (ECB) is warning governments and other investors to get ready for higher interest rates.
ECB member Benoit Coeure told a finance conference Monday that a looming adjustment to the bank's monetary policy is transparent.
"It's obvious that the financial sector, and other economic actors and especially governments must prepare (for higher rates)," Couere told conference attendees.
"I hope that euro zone governments know that interest rates will not stay at current levels," Coeure added.
• Oil prices fell on Tuesday as a rebound in Libyan oil production combined with an increase in U.S. drilling to signal the potential for increased crude supply.
International Brent crude futures were trading down 22 cents, or 0.41 percent at $52.9 a barrel as of 0643 GMT from the previous session.
U.S. benchmark West Texas Intermediate crude oil prices were down 23 cents, or 0.46 percent, to $50.01 a barrel.
U.S. oil may drop to $49.62 per barrel as it failed to break a resistance at $50.95, said Wang Tao, a Reuters market analyst for commodities and energy technicals. Brent oil may also retrace its steps back to $52.79 per barrel.
• A blast in a St Petersburg train carriage on Monday that killed 11 people and wounded 45 was carried out by a suspected suicide bomber with ties to radical Islamists, Russia's Interfax news agency cited a law enforcement source as saying.
Reference: Reuters,CNBC
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