This was supposed to be Trump’s first legislative win, and was seen as a proxy for the strength of his mandate. The U.S. House of Representatives vote on health care might also set back the roll-out of Trump’s other plans, such as a major tax reduction.
“Markets are likely to remain on hold today as traders wait on the US Congress to resolve its impasse on revision of the Obamacare legislation,” said Ric Spooner, chief market analyst at CMC Markets, in a Friday note.
Another event risk is the Sunday meeting between a five Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and non-OPEC countries who will review where producers stand on compliance with the six-month output curb agreement.
Oil prices continued to dip on Thursday, on continued concerns about that the OPEC-led supply cuts were not enough as U.S. stockpiles continue to rise.
Global benchmark Brent crude settled down 8 cents at $50.56 a barrel and U.S. crude fell 34 cents to settle at $47.70.
The dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of currencies, last traded at 99.76 at 7:05 am HK/SIN, down from levels above 100 seen earlier this week. The dollar/yen pair was higher during Asian trade at 111.02, after falling as much as 110.64 overnight.
