Forex Afternoon Wrap – 30/12

• Swiss UBS Consumption indicator 1.66 vs. 1.63 previously
• UK Nationwide HPI m/m 0.80% vs. 0.40%
• Eurozone Spain flash CPI y/y 0.0% vs. 0.10%
• Eurozone M3 Money supply y/y 5.10% vs. 5.20%
• Eurozone private loans y/y 1.40% vs. 1.30%

Later

• US Pending home sales
• Crude Oil inventories report

The markets were relatively quiet with lack of any major fundamentals throughout the day. The Asian session was relatively quiet with no economic releases and the currencies were mostly trading flat. AUDUSD is down -0.04% for the day trading tightly within yesterday’s range where prices touched a high of 0.73. In early trading today, the Aussie attempted another go at yesterday’s high but pulled back forming a series of doji candlestick patterns on the hourly chart, indicating a possible shift in sentiment to the downside if prices manage to break below the day’s support formed at 0.7279. NZDUSD is down -0.21% and is trading weaker among the commodity currencies. Prices posted an intraday high to 0.687 but declined sharply to trade at 0.685 at the time of writing.

The Japanese Yen continues to trade mixed. USDJPY is up 0.03% in an attempt to rally back to the intra-day high posted at 120.5 in early trading session. So far, USDJPY has managed to recover off the lows near 120.2, posted three days ago. Price action in USDJPY however is likely to struggle near the intraday resistance of 120.6.

The European trading session was marked with a few releases such as the Spain flash CPI which remained flat on an annualized basis while the Eurozone M3 money supply was soft at 5.10% below estimates of 5.20%. Private loans increased modestly at a pace of 1.40% against estimates of 1.30%. EURUSD is up 0.11% after posting a strong decline yesterday which saw the single currency drop to the lows of 1.09 briefly before managing to close a bit higher. EURUSD remains flat today and is stuck between the range of 1.094 and yesterday’s lows of 1.09. A break below 1.09 could see further weakness set in which could push the single currency lower to 1.085 support.

The British Pound remains weak today and is down -0.12%. GBPUSD managed to pullback off the lows near 1.478 yesterday and attempted to touch a session high near 1.484 before the Cable declined sharply again. Price action however remains within yesterday’s low but a break lower could see a stronger decline in the near term.

The Swiss Franc is trading stronger today with USDCHF down -0.38%. Prices posted a steady decline since the opening session after a brief touch to 0.993 high yesterday.

The US trading session today is quiet with the exception of the US pending home sales and the weekly Crude Oil inventories report. USDCAD has been trending stronger today, up 0.30% at the time of writing. Prices managed to recover off the lows near 1.381 yesterday and continued to trend steadily since the opening session.

On the commodity front, WTI Crude Oil remains weak, down -1.18% at the time of writing, trading near $36.88 a barrel ahead of the weekly inventory report. Prices continue to decline off yesterday’s high near $37.85. Gold prices are choppy today, down -0.03% for the day, trading at $1068 an ounce. Prices remain volatile since yesterday with the intraday sessions marked by strong spikes in either direction.