Forex news from the European trading session - 8 December 2020
Headlines:
- US November NFIB small business optimism index 101.4 vs 102.5 expected
- Brexit: There is reportedly still no firm decision on when Boris Johnson will be heading to Brussels
- Germany December ZEW survey current situation -66.5 vs -66.0 expected
- UK PM Johnson on Brexit: The situation at the moment is very tricky
- UK's Hancock says hopes that Oxford vaccine will get approval in the next couple of weeks
- Indonesia's Bio Farma says Sinovac vaccine is up to 97% effective in early trial
- UK's Hancock: Once vulnerable people are vaccinated, we will start to lift restrictions
- Germany reportedly to discuss tighter virus measures some time this week
- Pfizer tells US officials that it cannot provide substantial additional vaccine doses until late June, July - report
- Germany reports 14,054 new coronavirus cases in latest update today
Markets:
- CHF leads, GBP lags on the day
- European equities lower; E-minis down 0.6%
- US 10-year yields up 0.8 bps to 0.931%
- Gold flat at $1,862.60
- WTI down 0.4% to $45.60
- Bitcoin down 1.8% to $18,733
It was mostly a quiet session as the market continues to take space for a bit of a breather following the risk rally from November through to last week.
European indices are marked lower alongside US futures, with Pfizer saying that it can only provide a substantial amount of vaccine doses to the US some time in June at the earliest. A potential stimulus stalemate is also not helping with the mood.
Brexit headlines continue to steal the show but the bottom line is that we are now caught waiting on when Boris Johnson will travel to Brussels.
The EU gave a "deadline" of tomorrow to bridge the divide but it doesn't seem like there is much movement as of yet to suggest a change in recent developments.
The pound continues to suffer from the angst of the situation, with cable easing from 1.3340 to 1.3307 and is keeping just above that. EUR/GBP has made its way back to 0.9100.
Elsewhere, the dollar is keeping more mixed and little change in general with the market also not really offering much as we start to count down to the year-end.
Positioning adjustment, rebalancing flows, profit-taking, dollar funding needs, the FOMC meeting next week. All of that are now part and parcel of the market narrative and that will make for a rather messy last few weeks of trading.
