Reuters

World stocks edged lower on Friday on signs that U.S. tax reforms could be delayed after Senate Republicans unveiled a plan that differed significantly from the House of Representatives’ version.

U.S. President Donald Trump set out a strong message on trade at a meeting of Asia-Pacific countries in Vietnam on Friday, saying the United States could no longer tolerate chronic trade abuses and would insist on fair and equal policies.

Oil markets were little changed on Friday, supported by ongoing supply cuts and strong demand which have resulted in a tightening market, although the prospect of rising U.S. output capped prices.

Japan’s economy was expected have grown for a seventh straight quarter in July-September, a period of unbroken expansion last seen between 1999 and 2001, a Reuters poll found on Friday.

Oil markets were stable on Friday, supported by ongoing supply cuts led by OPEC and Russia as well as by strong demand.

A tax plan by U.S. Senate Republicans released on Thursday diverges in several ways from legislation being pushed by Republicans in the House of Representatives.

The U.S. dollar slipped to a six-day low against a basket of currencies on Thursday as investors fretted over a Republican tax plan that would delay corporate tax cuts.

Rival Republican tax-cut plans were emerging in the U.S. Congress on Thursday that differed on issues such as cutting the corporate income tax, the deduction for state and local taxes and the tax on inheritances paid by the richest Americans.

A weaker dollar pushed gold prices to a three-week high on Thursday, the second such climb in successive days, while palladium rose to a 16-year peak as speculators resumed buying.

Canadian new home prices rose in September, lifted by gains in Vancouver, while prices in Toronto were unchanged for the fourth month in a row following provincial government measures to rein in the market, Statistics Canada data showed on Thursday.