USD Has its Worst Week in a Two-Months

On Friday, the Greenback edged lower and experienced its worst week in two-months, despite strong data surrounding U.S. retail sales, which grew faster than estimate.

USD declined as traders grew uneasy about the lack of new information regarding the economic policies of the new U.S. administration and as China's exports fell unexpectedly.

Elsewhere, the U.S. retail sales edged up 0.6% in December, following a small 0.2% gain in November. However, the U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of currencies, fell to 101.30 pips during last Friday’s trading session as the U.S. retail sales failed to boost the Greenback.

Gold maintained its gains for a third-week in a row, although, it pared some of its gains at the end of last week’s trading session, after hitting a seven-week high as the Greenback edged up.

The yellow metal settled at the psychological level of $1,200.

Technically, the precious metal could decline during the week and hit $1,180 as Fed officials indicated that they could hike rates three times this year, at a faster pace than previously.

Oil prices declined at the end of last week’s trading session, amid doubts over the extent of OPEC cuts and on concerns over the economic health of China, the world's second-largest oil consumer. China's exports fell by 7.7%, the worst since 2009. U.S. crude settled below 52.50 and it is unlikely to trade widely during the day, due to the U.S. market holiday.

The most important economic events:

CAD Existing Home Sales (MoM) (DEC): (GMT 16:00) – Medium – forecast (N/A) – Previous (-5.3%).

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