Market News

Further signs of slowing economic growth could cause the Bank of England to soften its monetary stance.
The index that tracks the dollar against six main peers was up 0.43% at 107.5, its highest since November 2022.

The index has appreciated sharply this month on expectations that President-elect Donald Trump's policies could reignite inflation and limit the Fed's ability to cut rates, keeping other currencies under pressure.
Trump floated the idea of appointing Kevin Warsh as Treasury Secretary on the understanding that he could later be Federal Reserve chairman, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday, citing people familiar with the matter.

The Japanese yen was at 154.4 per dollar, flat on the day. The yen slid back below 156 per dollar last week for the first time since July, sparking the possibility that Japanese authorities may again take steps to shore it up.
The yen received a short-lived boost from BOJ Governor Kazuo Ueda, who said on Thursday that the bank would "seriously" take into account the impact that yen moves could have on the economic and price outlook.

Japan's annual core inflation was 2.3% in October, keeping pressure on the central bank to raise its still-low interest rates.
Just over half of economists in a Reuters poll believed the BOJ will hike in December, in part because of concerns about the depreciating yen.
"The renewed strengthening of underlying inflation coupled with the recent rebound in consumer spending and the renewed weakening of the yen strengthen the case for another BOJ rate hike next month," Marcel Thieliant, head of Asia-Pacific at Capital Economics, wrote in a research note.
Eyes were also on bitcoin, which was at a record high, a whisker off $100,000.

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Reporting by Brigid Riley in Tokyo and Alun John in London; Editing by Stephen Coates and Kim Coghill