Dollar Declines on Tax Bill Wrangling

USD

On Friday, the Greenback edged lower vs. its major peers, amid fresh worries over U.S. tax reform plans and as the U.S. Federal Reserve's most recent policy statement continued to weigh. Looking ahead, traders are awaiting the U.S. Industrial Production.

The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was down by 0.01% 93.482 pips.

EUR

The Single currency rose slightly by 0.05% vs. the USD, to settle at $1.1784. The Euro was negatively affected after the ECB kept monetary policy unchanged yesterday and revised up its outlook for growth and inflation, but added that underlying inflation remains soft.

GBP

The Sterling pound fell slightly vs. the U.S. dollar by 0.01% at $1.3430. No major reports are due from the UK today.

JPY

Against the JPY, the USD fell as much as 0.20%, to settle at ¥112.16. On the release front, an official data showed that the Japan's business sentiment improved for a fifth straight quarter in the three months to December to hit an 11-year high.

Gold

Gold prices edged high as traders digested a triple load of central bank view from the Fed, ECB and BOE that mentioned to continued easy liquidity. Gold Futures - Feb 18 (GCG8), rose as much as 0.20%, to settle at $1,259.60.

Oil

Oil prices settled high, positively affected by the Forties pipeline outage in the North Sea and ongoing OPEC-led production cuts, however, increasing output from the U.S. kept a lid on oil markets.

Crude Oil WTI Futures - Jan 18 (CLF8) rose as much at 0.51% at $57.33 and Brent Oil Futures - Jan 18 (LCOF8) was up by 0.25% at $63.47.

The most important economic events:

USD Industrial Production (MoM) (NOV): (GMT 14:15) – Medium – Forecast (0.3%) – Previous (0.9%).
USD Manufacturing (SIC) Production (NOV): (GMT 14:15) – Medium – Forecast (0.2%) – Previous (1.3%).

Disclaimer
The prices and news mentioned in this outlook are absolutely no guarantee of future market performance and do not represent the view of ICM Capital Limited. Financial markets can move in either direction causing profits to be made or complete losses to be incurred by the trader. Each trader must decide for themselves what their risk appetite is and ensure that correct risk management procedures are in place before placing any trades.

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