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Familiar Themes In The Driving Seat

FOREX

Focus remains on the now familiar themes of Brexit, US spending bills and a resurgence in Covid cases, with most G10 crosses holding relatively tight ranges.

  • GBP is higher on the session, last up 20 pips at 1.3381. ITV's Peston tweeted from sources that agreement on a UK/EU trade deal is again possible tomorrow. The tweet speculated "So there will either be a deal tomorrow. Or the following Wednesday. Or - presumably - never."
  • AUD/USD has started the session on the front foot, reclaiming some of the drop from Tuesday. Upside is tempered by weakness in iron ore futures which dropped after SCMP reported that Chinese demand for iron ore is likely to drop, and trading limits are likely to become tighter. AUD/USD last up 9 pips at 0.7532, dropping off session highs of 0.7555.
  • NZD is still slightly lower on the session after briefly making a foray into positive territory. StatisticsNZ published indicative trade data covering Feb 1 - Dec 16. The report showed that exports fell 5% Y/Y, while imports rose 9% Y/Y on Dec 1-16 and REINZ house price review revealed nationwide house prices rose 14.9% last year.
  • The BoJ Oct MonPol meeting minutes were released to limited fanfare; the release is regarded as slightly stale as they are preceded by the summary of opinions from the meeting. USD/JPY down around 9 pips at 103.55, moving well within yesterday's range.
  • The US dollar index is slightly lower on the session, last at 90.593, down 0.062, but still holding most of the gains from yesterday. The US dollar moved higher after US president Trump posted a video to twitter expressing discontent with the stimulus bill.
  • The PBOC fixed USD/CNY at 6.5558, 171 pips higher than yesterday. The central bank injected a net CNY 100bln, bringing total additional liquidity this week to CNY 310bn ahead of year end.
  • U.S. initial personal income/spending, jobless claims, flash durable goods orders, new home sales & final U. of Mich. Sentiment, Canadian GDP & Italian confidence gauges take focus today.

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