Market News

Government agencies were warning U.S. employees on Thursday of a possible federal shutdown at midnight on Friday, as the Republican-controlled Congress and the White House scrambled to pass legislation to keep the lights on in Washington.

Traders showed no love for the Greenback once more as the looming deadline of the government funding bill increases the risk of a shutdown. U.S. economic data also turned out mostly weaker than expected. 

The Canadian dollar weakened against its American counterpart on Thursday, after comments by U.S. President Donald Trump the day before appeared to validate concerns that the United States looks increasingly likely to pull out from NAFTA.

The Trump administration is finalizing its long-awaited infrastructure plan, which would push most of the financing of projects to private investment and state and local taxpayers, according to sources familiar with the proposal taking shape.

U.S. homebuilding fell more than expected in December, recording its biggest drop in just over a year, amid a steep decline in the construction of single-family housing units following two months of hefty gains.

CHF was in demand during the session, which is kinda wonky since risk appetite was the dominant sentiment. JPY’s weakness made more sense, though, given the risk-on vibes. As for USD weakness, there was no apparent reason for that.

European shares notched up modest gains on Thursday, failing to match a rally that lifted Wall Street and Asia to new records.

China’s economy grew faster than expected in the fourth quarter from a year earlier, helped by a rebound in the industrial sector, a resilient property market and strong export growth.

Asian stocks struck record highs on Thursday, with a rally by Wall Street supporting bullish investor sentiment, while the dollar pulled back from three-year lows as comments by European Central Bank officials tempered the euro’s recent rally.

Japanese government bond prices dipped on Thursday, with the benchmark 10-year yield briefly hitting a six-month high, before reversing early losses to end flat on bargain-hunting.

The Greenback continued to extend its gains as traders caught up to the previous session’s trends. Meanwhile, the Aussie failed to find support from a strong jobs release.

The U.S. economy should grow at a good clip this year, boosted by tax cuts, two Fed officials said on Wednesday, though they disagreed on how close the economy is to overheating and the need for rate hikes this year.

Cleveland Fed President Loretta Mester said on Wednesday that her assumption the U.S. federal tax overhaul would add 0.25 to 0.5 percentage points in growth over the next two years might be too low.

Warnings about euro appreciation kept the shared currency in a downbeat mode for the rest of the U.S. session while a few other major currencies enjoyed a bit more volatility.

Gold prices hovered near four-month highs on Wednesday as the U.S. dollar slipped against a basket of currencies.

Bitcoin skidded below $10,000 on Wednesday, halving in value from its peak price, with investors gripped by fears regulators could clamp down on the volatile cryptocurrency that sky-rocketed last year.

The Bank of Canada raised interest rates on Wednesday, as expected, but said that while more rate hikes are probably warranted, some continued monetary policy accommodation will likely be needed to maintain optimal growth and inflation.

Oil prices weakened following early gains on Wednesday, but remained underpinned by tightening supply and strong global demand.

The euro had a bad run during the session, thanks to comments from ECB officials. Meanwhile, the Aussie and the Kiwi got a lift, likely because of the returning risk-on vibes during the morning London session.

World shares pulled back from record highs on Wednesday, set for only their second day of losses in 2018 as lower commodity prices and a string of downbeat updates from companies dampened the mood in global markets.