Forex news for Asia trading for Monday 21 December 2020
- Canadian media report Ontario will enter a full lock down on December 24
- US Sec State Pompeo has issued a statement following the attack in Baghdad
- China's annual Central Economic Work Conference hinted at PBOC interest rate hikes in 2021
- Japan's Cabinet approved a record-high ¥106tln draft budget for fiscal 2021
- ICYMI - Italy says it has detected a coronavirus case with the new UK strain
- New Zealand Credit Card Spending for November +0.1% m/m (prior +1.5%) and -5.6% y/y (prior -6.3%)
- Iron Ore flying in China market (Dalian) - Friday landslide at Vale mine
- China 1 year Loan Prime Rate 3.85% (vs. expected 3.85%) and 5-year 4.65% (expected 4.65%)
- PBOC sets USD/ CNY reference rate for today at 6.5507
- FX option expiries for Monday December 21 at the 10am NY cut
- Canada gets on board, bans flights from Britain
- US House passes a funding bill to avoid a government shut down
- UK Lloyds Business Barometer for December -4 (prior -21)
- South Korea exports for December so far +4.5% y/y
- Yellen being told to endorse a strong US dollar.
- US coronavirus economic relief bill agreed to - what to expect next
- McConnell says we have finalized an agreement
- Scotland First Minister Sturgeon has called on UK PM Johnson to seek a Brexit extension
- US authorities propose plan to make crypto exchanges identify personal wallets
- UK coronavirus - Tier 4 restrictions could remain in place until Easter
- Trade ideas thread - Monday 21 December 2020
- Qatar has issued approval for use of Pfizer vaccine in case of emergencies
- Saudi Arabia has closed its land and sea borders for a week, suspended all international flights
- UK food industry body warns of imminent serious disruption to fresh food supply
- UK PM Johnson will chair an emergency meeting Monday as UK is nearly cut off from Europe
- Chair of the EU parliament says it is not possible to ratify any Brexit trade deal prior to the end of the year
- Japanese Prime Minister Sugua has painted a target on USD/JPY - don't let it fall under 100
- Senior UK govmt source tells Reuters Brexit talk still difficult, significant still differences
- Monday morning open levels - indicative forex prices - 21 December 2020
- Cable indicated sharply lower after lockdown measures and Brexit turmoil
- Latest Brexit murmurs are not promising- 'talks stuck', no deal unless there is a 'substantial shift'
- Just starting trading? Avoid these mistakes.
- JP Morgan, Goldman Sachs bolt out of the gate on stock buybacks
GBP opened lower in the very early hours of Monday driven by still little progress on Brexit and COVID-19 developments in the country as cases surged and fears centred on a new variant of the virus which reports say is more highly infectious. Many European (and non-European) countries have closed their border to people travelling from the UK and there are some freight restrictions also.
GBP stabilised somewhat after the early drop but the retracement was only very small before renewed selling hit in following hours, taking cable to lows circa 1.3336. As I update GBP is barely off its lows.
Other currencies have also fallen against the US dollar.
Oil sold off on the COVID-19 fears also (NOK fell heavily alongside), Gold has been a beneficiary. Silver even more so, up to highs above $26.70 during the day.
The other big news of the weekend and into Monday was an agreement reached in the US on the economic relief plan (see bullets above). As I update both Houses of Congress have passed a bill to enable the stopgap funding of the US government while the coronavirus relief bill will undergo voting on Monday US time.
Silver today:
