The Greenback Holds Steady

USD

On Wednesday, the Greenback held steady vs.  a basket of major currencies, as optimism surrounding a major U.S. tax reform bill began to decline. On the release front, markets are awaiting the U.S. Existing-Home Sales index, which measures sales and prices of existing single-family homes for the nation overall.

• The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was down by 0.04% at 93.01

EUR

The Single currency rose slightly by 0.08% vs. the dollar, to settle at $1.1848.

GBP

The Sterling pound rose by 0.10% vs. the Greenback, to settle at $1.3400. Traders are awaiting Mark Carney's speech at Parliament Hearing in London, as he could mention the next direction on the GBP.

JPY

The JPY fell as much as 0.24% vs. the USD, to settle at ¥113.18. today, traders are awaiting Japan Buying Foreign Bonds and Japan Buying Foreign Stocks.

Gold

Gold prices settled high as the Greenback held steady on anticipations the U.S. government could pass the country's biggest tax overhaul since the 1980s. Gold Futures - Feb 18 (GCG8) rose as much as 0.29%, to settle at $1,267.90.

Oil

Earlier today, Oil prices settled high, backed by anticipations of a fall in U.S. crude stockpiles and by the ongoing outage of the Forties pipeline in the North Sea, which is one of Europe’s most important oil pipeline systems. The loss of around 400k barrels a day of Forties crude, which is significant and may support oil prices for weeks. On the release front, traders are awaiting the U.S. Crude Oil Inventories data, which is expected to hit -3385k from -5117k.

Crude Oil WTI Futures - Jan 18 (CLF8) rose as much at 0.30% at $57.74 and Brent Oil Futures - Jan 18 (LCOF8) was up by 0.02% at $63.81.

The most important economic events:

• GBP Carney Speaks at Parliament Hearing in London: (GMT 13:15) – Important –
• USD Existing Home Sales (MoM) (NOV): (GMT 13:15) – Medium- Forecast (0.7) – Previous (0.2).
• USD DOE U.S. Crude Oil Inventories (DEC 15): (GMT 15:30) – Medium- Forecast (-3385k) – Previous (-5117k).

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.