Business

The US dollar sank to its lowest in more than a year against key world currencies on Friday as investors assessed comments from the ECB and obstacles to US President Donald Trump’s domestic agenda, while world stock markets were poised to snap a 10-session streak of gains. Gains in the yen, gold and US Treasuries pointed to moves into safe-haven assets compared with stocks that are considered riskier. Oil prices sank more than 1 percent. MSCI’s gauge of stocks across the globe shed 0.32 percent, falling after 10 days of gains. US stock indexes opened lower, pulling back from record high levels reached earlier in the week. In Europe, the pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index lost 1.08 percent. (Reuters)

US stock indexes were lower in late morning trading and pulled back from record levels as weak earnings from industrial heavyweight General Electric weighed. Shares of GE fell as much as 5.4 percent to their lowest level since October 2015, as the company reported a nearly 60 percent slump in profit and its 2017 profit forecast came in at the low end. At 10:50am ET (1650 GMT), the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 72.93 points, or 0.34 percent, at 21,538.85, the S&P 500 was down 6.03 points, or 0.24 percent, at 2,467.42. The Nasdaq Composite was down 11.80 points, or 0.18 percent, at 6,378.20. The S&P and the Nasdaq are on track to close higher for the third straight week. All 11 major S&P sectors were lower. (Reuters)

France’s aerospace industries association (GIFAS) is open to cooperate with Russia in the area of light helicopters production if they are certified in Europe. “In principle, all civilian helicopters provide an opportunity for cooperation between France and Russia,” Thomas Chatel, in charge of Europe, Russia, and Turkey at GIFAS told Sputnik on the sidelines of the MAKS airshow. He added they could provide avionics and engines because this is “key for light Russian helicopters…”

Britain’s budget deficit came in wider than expected in June as higher inflation since the Brexit vote forced the government to pay more interest on its debt, driving home the challenge facing Chancellor Philip Hammond. The deficit in June stood at £6.854 billion, up 43 percent compared with the same month last year, the Office for National Statistics said on Friday, citing figures that exclude state-controlled banks. In the first three months of the financial year, the budget deficit widened by 8.9 percent compared with the same period in 2016 to 22.8 billion pounds, the ONS said. Hammond has come under pressure from within the ruling Conservative Party as well as from the opposition Labor Party to loosen his grip on public spending. (Reuters)

North Korea’s economy grew at its fastest pace in 17 years in 2016, South Korea’s central bank said on Friday, despite the isolated country facing international sanctions. GDP in North Korea last year rose 3.9 percent from the previous year when the economy contracted due to a drought and low commodity prices, the Bank of Korea said. The expansion, driven by mining and energy, marked the biggest rise since a 6.1 percent gain in 1999. North Korea, which counts China as its biggest trading partner, also boosted exports by 4.6 percent, the most since an 11.8 percent jump in 2013. Still, the state’s per capita gross national income in 2016 was just 1.5 million won ($1,342), less than 5 percent of the comparable number in South Korea. (Reuters)

European shares were flat on Friday, with corporate earnings not doing enough to lift the sombre mood of the previous session when a stronger euro weighed heavily on exporters. The hangover from Thursday’s ECB’s policy meeting, which pushed the euro close to a two-year high, saw the pan-European STOXX 600 at a standstill. All major European bourses were flat or slightly down, although a number of blue chips swung into the black thanks to positive earnings updates. (Reuters)