United Kingdom

The euro's surge to an almost two-year high put a cap on the global market rally in Friday's quiet session, with most major exchanges consolidating after a second strong week of gains. The MSCI Asia-Pacific index declined for first time in ten days while the European Stoxx 600 index was fractionally in the green as were US equity futures ahead of earnings reports from General Electric, Honeywell, Schlumberger and others. Oil gained with Brent flirting with $50, zinc rallied along with most base metals.

Content originally published at iBankCoin.com

Britain's Labour party has joined with a group of US 9/11 survivors in demanding UK Prime Minister Theresa May release a government report detailing the flow of money from Saudi Arabia into extremist groups in the UK. After several months of heated debate, Home Secretary Amber Reid announced that the study would not be made public "because of the volume of personal information it contains and for national security reasons."

The relentless risk levitation continued overnight, as global shares extended their stretch of consecutive record highs on Thursday for a 10th day after a cautious BOJ lifted Asian stocks to a decade high with a dovish announcement that offered no surprises, while pushing back Kuroda's 2% inflation target to 2020, the 6th consecutive delay. With all eyes on the ECB in just over an hour, US equity futures are in the green, following solid gains around the globe. European stocks extended their biggest gain in a week while Asian equities maintained their rally.

• U.S. Republicans left scrambling after health bill sinks again (Reuters); Republicans Give Up on Health-Care Reform, Now Seek Straight Repeal (BBG)
• Trump Blames Democrats and a ‘Few Republicans’ for Health-Bill Wreck (BBG)
• House Republicans Set Out Plan to Rewrite Tax Code (WSJ)
• House GOP Budget Ignores Trump’s Cuts to Domestic Agencies (BBG)
• House Republicans unveil 2018 budget with tax reform instructions (Reuters)
• UK inflation unexpectedly falls and eases rate-hike fears (AP)

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