Markets & Finance News

Shares in Asia were flat in early trade on Friday following a fall on Wall Street, with a deteriorating global economic outlook outweighing more signs of progress in trade talks between China and the United States.

* Aussie manages to reverse part of previous day's sharp fall

Japanese Finance Minister Taro Aso said on Friday that U.S. President Donald Trump has never mentioned currencies when discussing trade with Japan.

A reported ban on Australian coal imports into China's northern port of Dalian will not have a "dramatic effect" on the local economy, Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) Governor Philip Lowe said on Friday.

* Aussie dollar reels from China's Dalian port ban on coal import

The dollar on Thursday recovered from earlier losses spurred by soft U.S. economic data, as investors consolidated positions and looked for fresh trading incentives amid U.S.-China trade negotiations and talks related to Britain's exit from the European Union. The greenback earlier fell, hurt by weaker-than-expected U.S. economic data that affirmed expectations the Federal Reserve will hold U.S. interest rates steady this year. "We had weak U.S. data earlier that pushed the dollar lower, but now that move is over," said John Doyle, vice president of dealing and trading at Tempus Inc. in Washington. "Right now, we're kind of stuck in some boring, tight ranges. We were kind of hoping for some events to shake things loose, but that didn't really happen and we're sort of looking for the next driver," he added. Doyle noted that those drivers could very well be related to developments on U.S.-China trade talks and Brexit negotiations. The U.S. data came a day after minutes of the Fed's monetary policy last month said patience was needed when it came to tightening rates, noting a pause in rate hikes gave it time to observe the effects of past increases amid a global economic slowdown. New orders for U.S.-made capital goods, in particular, unexpectedly fell in December, data showed on Thursday, amid declining demand for machinery and primary metals, pointing to sluggish business spending on equipment that could crimp economic growth. "Overall, the durable goods data provide further reason to think that economic growth will soon slow to below its 2 percent potential pace, which will keep the Fed on hold throughout this year," said Andrew Hunter, senior U.S. economist, at Capital Economics in London. Thursday's data also showed that the Philadelphia Fed's manufacturing activity index dropped to a reading of -4.1 this month from 17.0 in January. That was the first negative reading since May 2016. In afternoon trading, the dollar index, a gauge of its value against a basket of six major currencies, was up 0.2 percent at 96.611. The dollar, however, fell 0.2 percent against the yen to 110.69 yen, sliding for the first time in five days. But the greenback gained against the Swiss franc and sterling. The euro, meanwhile, was little changed versus the dollar, at $1.1343, earlier rising after surveys showed business activity was surprisingly firm in February, particularly in France. French business activity rose more than expected, though the German PMI number was more of a mixed picture. A bunch of weak data since January has undermined support for the euro, prompting investors to revise down their inflation expectations for the coming months, and pulled core bond yields lower. A Citibank economic surprise index shows the euro zone indicator is still wallowing near six-month lows hit last month. ======================================================== Currency bid prices at 3:01PM (2001 GMT) Description RIC Last U.S. Close Pct Change YTD Pct High Bid Low Bid Previous Change Session Euro/Dollar EUR= $1.1331 $1.1335 -0.04% -1.20% +1.1366 +1.1321 Dollar/Yen JPY= 110.6800 110.8500 -0.15% +0.38% +110.8700 +110.5800 Euro/Yen EURJPY= 125.44 125.67 -0.18% -0.62% +125.8500 +125.3300 Dollar/Swiss CHF= 1.0012 1.0008 +0.04% +2.02% +1.0022 +0.9995 Sterling/Dollar GBP= 1.3035 1.3049 -0.11% +2.18% +1.3094 +1.3027 Dollar/Canadian CAD= 1.3225 1.3174 +0.39% -3.02% +1.3231 +1.3162 Australian/Doll AUD= 0.7078 0.7163 -1.19% +0.41% +0.7207 +0.7072 ar Euro/Swiss EURCHF= 1.1348 1.1349 -0.01% +0.84% +1.1368 +1.1342 Euro/Sterling EURGBP= 0.8693 0.8685 +0.09% -3.24% +0.8703 +0.8666 NZ NZD= 0.6804 0.6855 -0.74% +1.30% +0.6876 +0.6798 Dollar/Dollar Dollar/Norway NOK= 8.6340 8.5895 +0.52% -0.05% +8.6441 +8.5813 Euro/Norway EURNOK= 9.7861 9.7382 +0.49% -1.21% +9.7914 +9.7368 Dollar/Sweden SEK= 9.3699 9.3203 +0.48% +4.53% +9.3729 +9.3034 Euro/Sweden EURSEK= 10.6200 10.5692 +0.48% +3.47% +10.6311 +10.5591 (Reporting by Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss; Editing by Bernadette Baum and James Dalgleish)

The top U.S. and Chinese trade negotiators resumed high-level talks on Thursday to hash out a deal that could end their trade war, just over a week before a U.S.-imposed deadline to reach agreement expires and triggers a new round of tariffs.

* Aussie dollar reels from China's Dalian port ban on coal import

The European Union needs to issue joint bonds to strengthen its capital markets union project as well as the euro, European Central Bank policymaker Ewald Nowotny said on Thursday.

The U.S. dollar fell against most major currencies on Thursday, hurt by weaker-than-expected U.S. economic data that affirmed expectations the Federal Reserve will hold interest rates this year. The greenback so far this week has fallen 0.4 percent, after gaining more than 1 percent the previous week, highlighting an uneven performance amid a mixed batch of U.S. economic reports. The U.S. data came a day after minutes of the Fed's monetary policy last month said patience was needed when it came to tightening rates, noting a pause in rate hikes gave it time to observe the effects of past increases amid a global economic slowdown. New orders for key U.S.-made capital goods, in particular, unexpectedly fell in December, data showed on Thursday, amid declining demand for machinery and primary metals, pointing to sluggish business spending on equipment that could crimp economic growth. "Overall, the durable goods data provide further reason to think that economic growth will soon slow to below its 2 percent potential pace, which will keep the Fed on hold throughout this year," said Andrew Hunter, senior U.S. economist, at Capital Economics in London. Thursday's data also showed that Philadelphia Fed's manufacturing activity index dropped to a reading of -4.1 this month from 17.0 in January. That was the first negative reading since May 2016. In mid-morning trading, the dollar fell 0.2 percent against the yen to 110.63 yen, sliding for the first time in five days. The euro also inched higher versus the dollar, up 0.1 percent at $1.1343. The single European currency benefited from surveys that showed business activity was surprisingly firm in February, particularly in France. French business activity rose more than expected as manufacturing growth helped offset the slack in services that has dogged firms in the wake of anti-government protests, though the German PMI number was more of a mixed picture. "The euro's reaction highlights the heightened sensitivity of the currency towards any good news from Europe after recent lackluster data," said Kamal Sharma, director of G10 FX strategy at Bank of America Merrill Lynch in London. A bunch of weak data since January has undermined support for the single currency, prompting investors to revise down their inflation expectations for the coming months and pulled core bond yields lower. A Citibank economic surprise index shows the euro zone indicator is still wallowing near six-month lows hit last month. The dollar index, which measures the U.S. unit against a basket of six major currencies, was little changed at 96.498 . ======================================================== Currency bid prices at 10:05AM (1505 GMT) Description RIC Last U.S. Close Pct Change YTD Pct High Bid Low Bid Previous Change Session Euro/Dollar EUR= $1.1342 $1.1335 +0.06% -1.11% +1.1366 +1.1321 Dollar/Yen JPY= 110.6600 110.8500 -0.17% +0.36% +110.8700 +110.5800 Euro/Yen EURJPY= 125.52 125.67 -0.12% -0.55% +125.8500 +125.3300 Dollar/Swiss CHF= 1.0007 1.0008 -0.01% +1.97% +1.0022 +0.9998 Sterling/Dollar GBP= 1.3055 1.3049 +0.05% +2.34% +1.3094 +1.3027 Dollar/Canadian CAD= 1.3181 1.3174 +0.05% -3.34% +1.3207 +1.3162 Australian/Doll AUD= 0.7092 0.7163 -0.99% +0.61% +0.7207 +0.7087 ar Euro/Swiss EURCHF= 1.1352 1.1349 +0.03% +0.87% +1.1368 +1.1344 Euro/Sterling EURGBP= 0.8685 0.8685 +0.00% -3.33% +0.8703 +0.8666 NZ NZD= 0.6816 0.6855 -0.57% +1.47% +0.6876 +0.6806 Dollar/Dollar Dollar/Norway NOK= 8.6222 8.5895 +0.38% -0.19% +8.6441 +8.5813 Euro/Norway EURNOK= 9.7809 9.7382 +0.44% -1.26% +9.7914 +9.7368 Dollar/Sweden SEK= 9.3520 9.3203 +0.36% +4.33% +9.3637 +9.3034 Euro/Sweden EURSEK= 10.6075 10.5692 +0.36% +3.36% +10.6311 +10.5591 (Reporting by Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss; Additional reporting by Saikat Chatterjee in London; Editing by Bernadette Baum)