·         The yen stepped back from a two-week high against the dollar on Friday when North Korea said it was open to resolving issues with the United States after President Donald Trump called off a June summit with its leader, Kim Jong Un.

The yen fell 0.3 percent to 109.59 yen in Asian trade following conciliatory comments from North Korean Vice Foreign Minister Kim Kye Gwan.

·         It had hit a two-week high of 108.955 per dollar overnight in a knee-jerk reaction after President Donald Trump called off the planned summit with Kim.

The dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of six other currencies, was up 0.2 percent at 93.912 and not far from the five-month high it hit on Wednesday.

·         The euro edged down 0.1 percent to $1.1710, and was on track for a sixth consecutive week of falling against the dollar, hobbled by worries over a deepening economic slowdown in the currency bloc.

·         Japan’s net external assets fell for a third straight year in 2017 as rises in gross overseas debt outpaced asset gains, though the country remained the biggest creditor nation for the 27th straight year, the Ministry of Finance (MOF) said on Friday.

The net value of assets held by the government, businesses and individuals stood at 328 trillion yen ($3 trillion) at the end of 2017 - down 2.3 percent from the year before and compared with 2014’s record 363 trillion yen, the ministry said.

·         North Korea responded on Friday with measured tones to U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to call off a historic summit with leader Kim Jong Un scheduled for next month, saying Pyongyang hoped for a “Trump formula” to resolve the standoff over its nuclear weapons program.

·         South Korean President Moon Jae In released a statement on the surprise news Thursday night that U.S. President Donald Trump canceled a planned summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

Moon quickly convened a meeting with aides so they could "figure out what President Trump's intention is and the exact meaning of it," according to a Moon spokesman quoted by Yonhap News Agency.

·         The Meghan Markle effect has spread to yellow gold jewelry, helping boost United States sales in the first quarter of 2018 with further gains expected, jewelers said.

The Meghan Markle effect has spread to yellow gold jewelry, helping boost United States sales in the first quarter of 2018 with further gains expected, jewelers said.

David Borochov, of New York-based R&R Jewelers, said on Thursday, said he typically sells about 70 to 80 percent in white gold and platinum, and 20 to 30 percent in yellow and rose gold. He expects the latter to increase.

·         President Donald Trump’s threat to impose tariffs on auto imports drew strong criticism abroad and at home where U.S. business groups and members of his own Republican Party warned of damage to the industry and raised the prospect of a global trade war that would harm American interests.

·         China’s Foreign Ministry said on Friday that the United States and North Korea should show patience and meet each other halfway, after U.S. President Donald Trump called off a summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un scheduled for next month.

·         Oil prices eased on Friday as Russia hinted it may gradually increase output, after having withheld supplies in concert with producer cartel OPEC since 2017.

Brent crude futures LCOc1 were at $78.63 per barrel at 0534 GMT, down 16 cents from their last close, and more than 2.2 percent below the $80.50 multi-year high they reached on May 17. Brent broke through $80 for the first time in more than three years earlier in May.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were at $70.60 a barrel, down 11 cents from their last settlement.

Reference: Reuters, CNBC