Forex news from the European trading session - 23 December 2020
Headlines:
- Pfizer, BioNTech to supply the US with 100 million additional coronavirus vaccine doses
- US MBA mortgage applications w.e. 18 December +0.8% vs +1.1% prior
- Brexit: Johnson, von der Leyen reportedly expected to hold another call today or tomorrow
- Irish PM Martin: On balance, there should be a Brexit deal
- UK's Jenrick: I am still reasonably optimistic about a Brexit deal
- Japan says to ban travel from UK starting from Thursday amid new virus strain
- Germany reports 24,740 new coronavirus cases in latest update today
Markets:
- AUD and NZD lead, CHF lags
- European equities higher; E-minis up 0.2%
- US 10-year yields up 0.8 bps to 0.925%
- Gold flat at $1,860.06
- WTI up 0.3% to $47.17
- Bitcoin down 1.5% to $23,084
A quiet session as the market continues to drift more towards holiday trading, with global politics still drawing much of the attention as the year winds down.
There was a bit of a hiccup on the US stimulus front as Trump called for Congress to amend the virus relief bill, though European markets shrugged that off for the most part.
Equities kept steadier with US futures turning higher after earlier losses in Asia.
Meanwhile, Brexit continues to be kept in limbo with another call now expected between Johnson and von der Leyen to test the political will before Christmas.
In the currencies space, the dollar is giving back its advance from yesterday as it keeps lower across the board but not really being stretched all too thin on the session.
EUR/USD pushed towards 1.2200 before stalling while GBP/USD kept above 1.3400 but gains are limited by its 100-hour moving average near 1.3445.
Although Europe has largely taken the stimulus news in stride, thin markets can be deceiving and so we'll have to see how North America plays out later in the day.
