The common European currency fell under heavy selling pressure on Monday of this week, as markets are setting eyes on the European Central Bank's meeting this Thursday. The regulator is expected to make several high-impact monetary policy decisions. According to the majority of economists, a further cut to the deposit rate, extension/expansion of the present QE and possibility of new
Due to the Fed rate hike stir, the US Dollar advanced against other major currencies on Friday and over the weekend.
The Sterling experienced mixed performance on Friday and over the weekend, mostly appreciating against commodity currencies.
The focus seems to be shifting back to the Federal Reserve as we are quickly heading toward December. Estimates that an eventual rate increase will push the US currency higher are putting additional bearish pressure on commodities. All of the components, which are included in our daily review, dropped by more than 1.3% on Friday of the previous week.
The Euro advanced in value on Friday, ignoring dovish expectations over the ECB meeting which is due to take place this Thursday. Only the EUR/USD currency pair failed to rally as it eventually dipped by 0.16% on the back of hawkish Fed expectations.
Despite a bank holiday yesterday, the US Dollar managed to appreciate against most major peers, with exception against the Yen.
The British currency mostly declined against other major peers on Thursday, with exception against the Aussie.
Today we have a limited look at commodity markets, owing to trading breaks yesterday for some of the components. Fossil fuels including natural gas and oil were the main downside movers on Thursday.
Movements of various Euro-crosses were very silent on Thursday as markets felt lack of volatility due to the Thanksgiving Holiday in the US. The EUR/USD currency pair was itself down by only 13 basis points yesterday, but there was no fundamental background for even such a small move.
Due to mixed US fundamentals yesterday, the US Dollar experienced mixed performance over the day.
The Autumn Forecast Statement helped the UK currency to strengthen against most major peers yesterday.
Positive trend of the yellow metal we had observed on Tuesday was reversed back to the south yesterday. Markets were reminded about negative implications for gold due to expected monetary policy changes from the Federal Reserve in December. Therefore, a sell-off resumed despite possible political tensions between Russia and Turkey, which triggered gold's purchases 48 hours ago.
The Euro was depreciating against all but one G8 currency on Wednesday on the back of expectations that the European Central Bank will expand QE programme in December. Moreover, fundamentals from other countries weighed on valuation of the 19-nation currency yesterday. Only EUR/CHF rose by 0.3% amid broad gains for the USD/CHF cross, which tried to assess the monetary policy
Despite better-than-expected US Preliminary GDP, the US Dollar suffered losses against most major peers, due to demand on safe-haven currencies increasing yesterday.
The British Pound sustained losses against other major currencies on Tuesday.
Except for natural gas and corn, commodities traded strongly to the north during the session on Tuesday. The market was driven by oil prices, which surged by almost 3% in the past 24 hours, owing to comments from Saudi Arabian officials who stated that the country is prepared to work with both OPEC and non-OPEC producers, in order to stabilise
Australian and New Zealand dollars rallied against the Euro on Tuesday, following their substantial losses one session before. EUR/AUD and EUR/NZD were down by 0.8% and 0.5%, respectively, on the back of increasing oil prices. EUR/CAD followed with a drop of 0.4%
The broadly stronger US Dollar appreciated against most major peers on Monday, despite poor fundamental figures weighing on the crosses.
The Pound was in for another day of declines, with the only exceptions being against the Kiwi and the Aussie.
Commodities began the new week with modest value changes, but no unanimity in terms of the direction of development. Natural gas remained the only major dissenter of the day, being that it surged by 3% after crashing by more than 5% on Friday of the previous week. Precious metals hovered in red amid estimates the US Dollar will continue to
Concerns over global demand and rising US Dollar were negatively reflected in the pricing of commodity-linked currencies on Tuesday. EUR/AUD and EUR/NZD were the largest nominal gainers as they both added around 0.6%.
The US Dollar appreciated against most major peers on Friday and over the weekend, with exception against the Aussie and the Yen.
The Sterling sustained losses against most major peers on Friday and over the weekend, with exception versus the Euro, against which it added 0.14%.
Except for natural gas, commodity trading was broadly silent on Friday as no sharp changes were posted by any of the components. Oil prices traded moderately upwards, with Brent and Crude adding 1.1% and 0.4%, correspondingly. Many economists see this rebound as a temporary event, while many downside factors remain in place and will continue to weigh on oil prices