The greenback gave back some gains overnight while stocks climbed slightly as markets digested prospects for U.S. tax reform ahead of Asian trade on Friday. Markets in Asia also awaited a raft of data out of Japan later in the session.

The dollar lost some steam on Thursday after surging on optimism following the release of the GOP’s tax reform plans on Wednesday. The plan called for a lower corporate tax rate and would cut the highest individual income tax rate. Criticism, however, arose over how the plan was skewed toward the wealthy, while questions remained over how the tax cuts would be funded.

The dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of rivals, edged down to 93.085 by 6:49 a.m. HK/SIN after climbing as high as 93.666 overnight. Against the yen, the dollar traded at 112.41, coming off the 113 handle touched during Asian trade on Thursday.

U.S. stocks closed higher as investors weighed recently announced tax reform plans. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 0.18 percent, or 40.49 points, to close at 22,381.20, the S&P 500 added 0.12 percent, or 3.02 points, to finish at 2,510.06, and the Nasdaq closed flat at 6,453.45. The small-cap Russell 2000 finished the session at a record 1,488.79.

Meanwhile, Kansas City Fed President Esther George, a non-voting member this year, said on Thursday that continued, gradual interest rate hikes were appropriate for economic expansion, Reuters said.

Back in Asia, futures implied a moderately lower open for equities in Japan. Nikkei futures traded in Chicago were off 0.06 percent at 20,350 and Osaka futures were down 0.21 percent at 20,320 by 6:14 a.m. HK/SIN. Those were below the Nikkei 225’s previous close of 20,363.11.

Australian SPI futures shed 0.18 percent to trade at 5,660 compared with the benchmark index’s Thursday close of 5,670.385.

In corporate news, Toshiba on Thursday signed an agreement to sell its memory chip unit to a group led by Bain Capital for 2 trillion yen ($18 billion). Still, the saga has yet to conclude: Western Digital, which is involved in a joint venture with the Japanese conglomerate, has sought an injunction to prevent Toshiba from selling the unit.

On the energy front, oil slid overnight. U.S. crude futures fell 1.1 percent to settle at $51.56 a barrel and global benchmark Brent crude declined 0.9 percent to settle at $57.41.

Brent had climbed to a 26-month high of $59.49 earlier this week following a threat by Turkey to shut down an oil pipeline following an independence referendum in the semiautonomous Kurdish region.

The economic calendar for Friday is rather top-heavy, with a raft of data expected out of Japan (all times HK/SIN):

• 7:00 a .m.: South Korea August industrial production and retail sales
• 7:30 a.m.: Japan CPI and household spending
• 7:50 a.m.: Japan industrial production and retail sales