Forex news for North American trading on December 11, 2020
- Disney boosts Dow into positive territory. The NASDAQ and S&P close lower
- The AUD is the strongest for the week, while the GBP is the weakest
- CFTC commitments of traders: EUR longs increased. GBP position switches from short to long
- WTI crude oil futures settle at $46.57
- FDA head told to quit if vaccine not authorized today
- U.S. Senate clears defense bill that Trump has threatened to veto
- What are the key events and releases for next week's trading
- Baker Hughes oil rig count 258 vs. 248 estimate
- NY Gov. Cuomo: NYC indoor dining will close Monday
- European shares end the week on a sour note
- Michigan consumer sentiment for December (P) 81.4 vs. 76.0 estimate
- GBPUSD continues its decline on Brexit deal concerns, but finding some buyers
- UK PM Johnson: Talks are deadlocked
- Canada capacity utilization for the 3Q 76.5% vs. 78.0% estimate
- US PPI final demand for November 0.1% vs. 0.1% estimate
- The JPY is the strongest and the GBP is the weakest as NA traders enter for the day
No Brexit deal. No covid stimulus deal. London may have to go to Tier 3 restrictions as a result of increasing Covid cases. NYC will close all restaurants on Monday. The electoral college will be decided on Monday as the Pres (and some states) look to orchestrate a Supreme Court stay of execution from his losing the election. That is, if they have the so-called "courage" to disenfranchise voters because of the fraudulent election (that has not been proved). HMMMMM.
The IPO market is on fire as companies flock to the market (and push shares of those IPOs to the moon), making the season sunny and bright for Wall Street. Meanwhile on Main Street it is cold and dreary as Covid cases in the US top 200K a day with 3k deaths. Meanwhile Washington can't figure it out, but to pass legislation that keeps the government open for another week.
The good news is a vaccine will likely be approved imminently (if not today, the FDA chief will be fired according to the White House). Whether it is today or tomorrow, the expectations are that by Monday the administering of the vaccine can start what will be a long and arduous process. Lets first protect those who have to deal with this in our hospitals. They are the ones that have the true "courage" as they engage in what has been an uphill battle.
As far as the markets go, the JPY was the strongest of the majors today, while the GBP was the weakest as no-deal Brexit chance increase. The GBP was the runaway weakest of the major currencies this week. The USD was mostly higher today with gains vs all the majors with the exception of the JPY (the USD was unchanged vs the AUD). For the week, the USD was higher vs the GBP and lower vs the AUD and had relatively modest changes vs the other currencies (CLICK HERE).
In other markets:
- Spot gold is ending the week with a gain of around $3 or 0.17% at $1839.68. Last week the spot price closed 1838.86. So for the week the gain was a modest $0.82. The high this week reached $1875.39. The low price reached $1822.51.
- Spot silver is down $0.05 or -0.21% at $23.95. Last Friday closed at $24.18 so for the week, the price is closing down $0.23
- WTI crude oil futures are trading down $0.25 -0.53% of $46.53. That is up from $46.09 at this time last week.
- Bitcoin at this time last week close that $18,821. The current price is trading at $18,100 for a decline of $-721 for the week. The high price reached $19,432. The low price was today at $17,580. The surge in bitcoin has run out of a little steam this week.
