Forex news from the European morning session - 11 December 2019
Headlines:
- China said to want 15 Dec tariffs cancelled as minimum pre-condition for continued negotiations
- BOJ's Kuroda: Overall 2020 outlook seems to be relatively bright
- UK election: Tories confident they can break through Labour's 'red wall'
- US Army plans to fund construction of rare earths processing facilities - report
Markets:
- AUD leads, EUR lags on the day
- European equities a little higher; E-minis flat
- US 10-year yields down 2 bps to 1.82%
- Gold up 0.2% to $1,466.70
- WTI down 0.4% to $59.03
- Bitcoin up 0.3% to $7,246
There was very little notable action during the session as markets continue to keep more tepid awaiting further US-China trade developments and the FOMC meeting later today.
Equities stayed choppy with mild movement but European stocks are a tad higher at the moment while bond yields are weighed slightly lower ahead of North American trading.
The moves are largely inconsequential as we continue to wait on key developments to unfold during the week, with Trump yet to decide on the 15 December tariffs.
The pound was choppy in early trades with cable slipping to 1.3112 before recovering to 1.3159 but is retreating a little amid a test of the 100-hour moving average.
The aussie is staying underpinned after early bids against the kiwi helped push the currency past its key hourly moving averages against the dollar. AUD/USD inched higher from 0.6825 to 0.6840 and is hovering near session highs currently.
Other major currencies continue to sit in more narrow ranges with the euro retreating a little against the dollar but the pair is keeping within 20 pips so far today.
The FOMC meeting is also casting a bit of a shadow over markets in general and when you pair that with the silence from US-China trade talks, it is giving traders little to work with.
As for the pound, it is basically in 'preparation mode' now as we count down to the UK election. ICYMI, here's a primer on the key timings and events for tomorrow.
