The US Dollar Is Consolidating. Investors Assess Central Bank Meetings

During yesterday's trading, the US dollar was being traded without changes relative to a basket of major currencies. The dollar index (#DX) closed yesterday near local lows (-0.01%). The US has published some weak economic releases. Thus, initial jobless claims rose to 234K, while experts forecasted 225K. Philadelphia Fed employment counted to 0.3 in December instead of 8.0. Existing home sales fell to 5.35M in November instead of 5.44M.

Financial market participants assess meetings of key Central Banks. Swiss National Bank raised the core interest rate to 0 from -0.25% per annum. The Bank of Japan kept the key marks of monetary policy at the same level. The regulator improved the forecast for the country's economic growth for 2020. The Bank of England left the core interest rate at 0.75% per annum following a meeting on Thursday. The regulator also kept the volume of the program for the purchase of government bonds unchanged at 435 billion pounds ($541.5 billion) and corporate bonds at 10 billion pounds. At the same time, the forecast for UK GDP growth in the fourth quarter of 2019 was worsened to 0.1% from 0.2%.

The "black gold" prices have been declining after a continuous growth. At the moment, futures for the WTI crude oil are testing the $60.90 mark per barrel.

Market Indicators

Yesterday, there was the bullish sentiment in the US stock market: #SPY (+0.41%), #DIA (+0.44%), #QQQ (+0.63%).

The 10-year US government bonds yield has not changed. At the moment, the indicator is at the level of 1.94-1.95%.

• - GDP data in the UK at 11:30 (GMT+2:00);
• - US GDP data at 15:30 (GMT+2:00);
• - Core retail sales in Canada at 15:30 (GMT+2:00).

by JMarkets, 2019.12.20

This article reflects a personal opinion and should not be interpreted as an investment advice, and/or offer, and/or a persistent request for carrying out financial transactions, and/or a guarantee, and/or a forecast of future events.