Market News

EUR & GBP were both down and out for the count during the session. And while the risk-off vibes gave JPY and CHF a boost, the two safe-haven currencies weren’t the top dogs since both lost out to the higher-yielding NZD.

European stocks wilted after a delay in a vote on tax reform in the U.S. deflated a rally in financials and drove regional benchmarks to start December with a loss.

Sterling slipped from a two-month high against the dollar on Friday, getting only a temporary boost from better-than-expected UK manufacturing data, as investors flagged concerns about Britain reaching a deal with the EU over the Irish border.

Executives from Chinese companies specializing in offering consumers small, easy-to-get loans became something of a fixture on Wall Street this year.

Price action was a snoozefest for the major currencies, except for the pound which struggled at key resistance areas and the Canadian dollar which was still supported by OPEC’s output deal extension.

Oil futures rose on Friday after OPEC and other major producers agreed to extend their production curbs in a widely expected move aimed at ending a persistent glut in global supplies.

Japan’s core consumer prices rose in October from a year earlier, marking the 10th straight month of gains, but a narrower measure that excludes energy showed inflation has not accelerated for three consecutive months.

The U.S. Senate on Thursday delayed voting on a Republican tax overhaul as the bill was tripped up by problems with an amendment sought by fiscal hawks.

The spotlight was still on tax reform in the U.S. as the Senate moved closer to voting on their version of the bill, but a few more happenings in Washington also influenced dollar price action.

The Canadian dollar clawed back losses against the greenback on Thursday, after hitting an earlier four-week low as data showed widening in the country’s current account deficit.

The dollar slipped to a four-day low against the euro on Thursday, hurt by selling pressure due to month-end adjustments, but rallied against the Japanese yen as U.S. Treasury yields rose on optimism about U.S. tax overhaul efforts.

Sterling topped $1.35 on Thursday, hitting a two-month peak, as hopes grew of a deal between Britain and the European Union at a summit next month.

The dollar slipped to a four-day low against the euro and was generally softer against most other major currencies, as its rebound after last week’s weakness ran out of steam and month-end adjustments created selling pressure.

Oil fell on Thursday, giving up earlier gains after OPEC members agreed to extend curbs on output to the end of next year at a meeting in Vienna, though a final deal hinges on the decision of non-OPEC producers, expected towards the end of the day.

OPEC agreed on Thursday to extend oil output cuts until the end of 2018 as it tries to finish clearing a global glut of crude while signaling it could exit the deal earlier if the market overheats.

U.S. consumer spending slowed in October as the hurricane-related boost to motor vehicle purchases faded, but a sustained increase in underlying price pressures suggested that a recent disinflationary trend had probably run its course.

Canada’s current account deficit in the third quarter swelled to C$19.35 billion ($15.00 billion), the third largest in history, as the country’s international trade gap in goods continued to expand, Statistics Canada said on Thursday.

A dive in high-flying U.S. tech stocks on worries their boom may have peaked left investors wondering on Thursday whether the longest global equity bull run in living memory might be starting to splutter.

Directional movement was in short supply today, resulting in choppy price action for most pairs. Even so, NZD was clearly higher against its peers while CHF was on the losing end, likely because of the risk-on vibes.

Britain is close to clinching a deal with the European Union over the Northern Ireland border, a step that would pave the way for Brussels to offer a two-year Brexit transition deal as early as January, The Times newspaper reported on Thursday.