As was the case in the closing days of........>

FOREX: As was the case in the closing days of 2017, the US dollar's again been

on the backfoot, prompting most major pairs to post impressive gains against the

greenback to kick off 2018. Both EUR/USD and GBP/USD now sit at multi-month

highs with the price action proving largely one-directional despite mixed

manufacturing PMI results: French, Italian, UK and Spanish Manufacturing PMIs

slowed, Germany's was inline.

* EUR, GBP, AUD and JPY among others are stronger by 0.3-0.4% against the US

dollar.

* Market holiday in Japan kept volume and liquidity relatively thin in the

Asia-Pac session as the dollar modestly weakened.

* Throughout the European morning, traders followed suit and almost all major

pairs remain bid ahead of the the NY crossover.

* Calendar is light for the rest of the session, with just US final December

manufacturing PMIs on the slate, which is expected unrevised at 1445GMT.

* Focus likely to be on whether the dollar's downward momentum will be

maintained ahead of Nonfarm Payrolls on Friday.