Placeholder session ahead of slew of early....>

FOREX: Placeholder session ahead of slew of early Christmas for central banks

- CAD trades very well, hitting multi-month highs against the greenback as the

Canadian currency received some decent support from both data and commodities.

USD/CAD came within striking distance of C$1.31 for the first time since late

October after CPI (and in particular the core non-energy numbers) came in ahead

of expectations. WTI crude futures also lent some support after bouncing back

into positive territory after a poor start.

- Elsewhere, it was a placeholder session with few macro clues from either

central banks or datapoints to drive sentiment in any particular direction.

Ahead of the expected impeachment of Trump in the House, US yields rose slightly

which underpinned modest strength in the greenback, but recent ranges were

largely respected.

- It's a frenetic day for central banks Thursday, with the Japanese, Norwegian,

Swedish and UK central bank decisions all due. Australian jobs numbers, UK

retail sales, US weekly jobless claims and existing home sales may also draw

focus.