Wall St. opens higher as oil prices, defense stocks rise

By Reuters : Wall Street gained in early trading on Monday, helped by higher oil prices and as defense stocks rose after a $110 billion arms deal between the United States and Saudi Arabia.

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Iraq could make OPEC-led oil output cut extension difficult, RBC’s Croft says

BY CNBC : Iraq is the big holdout country that could thwart Saudi Arabia's and Iran's wish to extend the OPEC-led oil production cut by a further nine months, according to RBC's Helima Croft.

"Getting Iraq on board is going to be interesting….I think Iraq in the end will get on board but they might make it difficult along the way," said Croft, noting that the country's oil minister, Jabbar al-Luaibi, had fought hard - and ultimately to no avail - to stop Iraq from having to take the second largest hit to its production figures in the deal brokered between OPEC and non-OPEC producers last November.

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Oil rises on expectation of extended, possibly deepened output cut

By Reuters : Oil rose on Monday, pushed by reports that an OPEC-led supply cut may not just be extended into 2018 but might be deepened to tighten the market and prop up prices.
Brent crude futures were up 32 cents, or 0.6 percent, from their last close at $53.93 per barrel at 0643 GMT.

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Asian stocks post biggest rise in a month as markets settle

By Reuters : Asian stocks posted their biggest daily rise in a month on Monday following modest gains in U.S. shares, though the greenback came under renewed pressure as Washington's political turmoil undermines confidence in U.S. economic policy.

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Japan's April exports seen up for fifth straight month, core CPI to accelerate

By  Reuters : Japan's exports were expected to rise for a fifth straight month in April, a Reuters poll found on Friday, supported by global demand especially from Asia and affirming the outlook for an export-led recovery.

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Bitcoin hits $1,900 to reach record high with market cap up $4 billion this week alone

By CNBC : Bitcoin broke through the $1,900 mark for the first time on Friday, hitting an all-time high, driven by global political uncertainty and key developments within the cryptocurrency world.
The digital currency was trading at around $1943.99 on Friday morning and had moved as high as $1934.24, according to Coindesk's bitcoin price index. The current level marks a more than 6.8 percent rise from a week ago.

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Treasury's Mnuchin concerned about alternate scoring models of Trump tax plan

BY Reuters : U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told lawmakers on Thursday that he has some doubts that what are known as alternate scoring models will give enough credit to the potential for economic growth when assessing the impact of the Trump administration's tax plan.

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Asia stocks tiptoe higher, dollar holds most gains as optimism inches back

BY Reuters : Asian stocks were slightly higher on Friday after a sluggish start, while the dollar held most of the gains it made overnight on strong U.S. economic data as some risk appetite returned despite caution over political turbulence in the United States.

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