Reuters

The Republican-controlled U.S. Congress appeared all but certain to pass sweeping tax legislation this week after two Senate Republican holdouts agreed on Monday to support a tax overhaul backed by President Donald Trump.

The dollar fell against a basket of major currencies on Monday, as concerns grew over whether a proposed U.S. tax overhaul program would have a major impact on economic growth, after the bill moved another step closer to passage over the weekend.

The Canadian dollar was little changed against its U.S. counterpart on Monday, with the loonie trading in a narrow range ahead of domestic data later in the week that could help guide expectations for the interest rate outlook.

Gold edged higher on Monday as uncertainty over U.S. tax reform weighed on the dollar, while an analyst said bullion may face renewed headwinds early next year.

Oil prices rose on Monday amid an ongoing North Sea pipeline outage and signs that booming U.S. crude output growth may be slowing, although the 2018 outlook points to ample supply despite production cuts led by OPEC.

Asian shares edged up on Monday, with sentiment boosted by expectations U.S. lawmakers will pass a long-awaited tax bill this week, while Chinese stocks were soggy on concerns about liquidity and tighter regulations in the world’s second largest economy.

Austria is set to become the only western European country with a far-right party in government after the anti-immigration Freedom Party and Sebastian Kurz’s conservatives struck a coalition deal to share power almost equally.

Republicans in the U.S. Congress released a final version of their tax bill on Friday, clearing the way for Senate and House of Representatives votes on the legislation next week.

Gold prices clung to earlier gains and were poised for their first weekly gain in four weeks on Friday, withstanding pressure from strong equities markets on continued support from this week’s interest rate rise by the Federal Reserve.

Republican negotiators in the U.S. Congress on Friday expanded a child tax credit that is part of sweeping tax legislation in order to shore up support for passage, but it was still unclear whether the move was enough to satisfy two balking senators.