“This vote then, during Asian trade tomorrow, will be seen as a proxy for the strength of the mandate that Trump’s has to govern,” explained Chris Weston, chief market strategist at IG, in a Thursday note.
The market’s concern is that a prolonged battle in Congress to repeal and replace Obamacare could delay tax reform, deregulation and government spending.
Reports said that the White House Office of Management & Budget (OMB) Director Mick Mulvaney and House Freedom Caucus Chairman Mark Meadows were in discussions on Wednesday U.S. evening time. The discussion is about how to eliminate Obamacare essential health benefits insurance policy language in the House healthcare reform bill, as many Republicans believe that without the inclusion of this language, the current House bill will exacerbate the problems related to Obamacare.
“So much is on the line. If this deal fails, the entire 2017 Washington policy timeline comes into question. There’s at least a 150 handles of legislative love priced into stocks at today’s nosebleed levels. Traders are hoping this Hail Mary lands on target.” Lawrence McDonald, managing director and head of global strategy at ACG Analytics, told CNBC.
Catching attention is a Wednesday afternoon terror incident in London which left five dead, including an attacker and a police officer. A suspected terrorist plowed a car into pedestrians on London’s Westminster Bridge and then fatally stabbed a police officer before being shot.
The pound fell to a low of $1.2426 after loud bangs were heard outside the British parliament. By Asian early morning, sterling traded stronger at $1.2470 against the greenback.
The dollar was trading at 99.783 against a basket of currencies at 8:10 am HK/SIN. Against the greenback, the yen traded at 111.32, strengthening for the eighth consecutive session.
Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen will give the keynote speech at the Federal Reserve System Community Development Research conference on “Strong Foundations: The Economic Futures of Kids and Communities.”
During Asian trade on Thursday, Brent crude gained 0.45 percent to $50.87 a barrel, after tesitng the $50 mark overnight, and U.S. crude was up 0.52 percent to $48.29.
Oil prices slipped on Wednesday after Energy Information Administration (EIA) data showed that U.S. stockpiles climbed almost 5 million barrels to 533.1 million last week, beating forecasts of a 2.8 million-barrel increase.
— Fred Imbert contributed to this report
