More developments are coming this Friday as focus returns to the U.S. tax bill reform. Meanwhile, the Dollar was slightly lower amid concerns over the tax bill execution. The British Pound continues to struggle over Brexit complications. Elsewhere in the U.S. Trump reacted positively to the mega deal between Disney and Fox. Here’s the top things to know this Friday.
1. Tax bill battle resumes
At the end of a week that has been packed with monetary policy decisions from the likes of the Federal Reserve, European Central Bank and Bank of England, among others, attention stateside is refocusing on the constant battle to push through tax reform before the end of the year.
The most recent setback came from Republican Senators Marco Rubio and Mike Lee who said they would vote against the most recent version unless the refundable portion of the child tax credit is increased.
The opposition places the bill in danger as the Republicans hold only a narrow majority in the Senate.
Some type of compromise is hoped to be reached on Friday to proceed with “final” voting early next week.
2. Dollar under pressure
The dollar remained moderately lower against other major currencies on Friday, amid fresh concerns over U.S. tax overhaul plans. That was despite the fact that the Fed moved ahead on Wednesday with its widely expected decision to raise interest rates by 25 basis points.
At 11:10 GMT, the U.S. dollar index fell 0.4217% at 93.44.
With market participants chewing over developments related to the tax plan, they will also keep an eye on data out later in the session.
The NY Empire State manufacturing index for December will be released at 13:30 GMT while November industrial production will be published at 14:15 GMT.
3. Pound weakens on Brexit concerns
Despite the generalized dollar weakness, the GBP was unable to lift its head on Friday as investors fretted over developments with the ongoing negotiations between Britain and the European Union over the UK’s departure from the bloc.
Even though EU leaders are expected to agree to move on to the second major round of talks dealing with future trade arrangements, European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker declared that the second phase would be harder than the first which he defined as already “very difficult”.
At 11:11 GMT, GBP/USD was last down 0.15% at 1.3411.
4. Trump backs Disney-Fox deal
The White House revealed that U.S. President Donald Trump approves of the deal between Walt Disney and 20th Century Fox.
Disney plans to buy assets from Fox in a deal worth more than $52 billion in stock with the intention of picking up more content for when it launches its own streaming service.
“I know that the President spoke with Rupert Murdoch earlier today, congratulated him on the deal and thinks that, to use one of the president’s favorite words, that this could be a great thing for jobs and certainly looks forward to and hoping to see a lot more of those,” White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders stated.
The deal is likely a review by the Department of Justice on the basis of antitrust, but Trump’s approval will likely help it move through unobstructed.
