Stocks Drift, Dollar Drops Amid Political Turmoil

• Stocks Drift, Dollar Drops Amid Political Turmoil

European stocks drifted following a lackluster session in Asia on Friday. The dollar weakened as investors considered the implications of continuing personnel turmoil in the Trump administration.

The greenback was mixed against major peers, but a jump by Japan’s yen helped drive down Bloomberg’s dollar index. The Washington Post reported that President Donald Trump plans to remove his national security adviser, something the White House press secretary later denied was happening. U.S. equity futures traded little changed. Stocks were already lower in Asia before the reports, while the Stoxx Europe 600 Index edged higher.

Any removal of H.R. McMaster as the national security adviser would follow the resignation of the White House’s top economic adviser, Gary Cohn, and the ouster of Secretary of State Rex Tillerson. Investors were earlier weighing the prospects for heightened U.S. trade protectionism after new White House appointee Larry Kudlow said he’d sell gold and buy the greenback, which gained on Thursday.

Elsewhere, West Texas crude steadied above $61 a barrel as signs of stronger U.S. fuel consumption balanced OPEC’s forecasting for the first time that new supplies from its rivals will exceed demand growth this year.