Forex news for January 18, 2016:

The Martin Luther King holiday severely dampened trading in US hours. There was some focus on oil in the early going as it dipped down below $29 from a high of $29.84. That weighed on commodity currencies slightly and they were never able to recover.

AUD/USD started US trading at 0.6880 and drifted down to 0.6860.

USD/CAD is up 20 pips at 1.4558 after starting trade at 1.4500 in North American hours. Baring a reversal, it will be the twelfth day of gains for the pair.

Cable caught a bid early in Europe and jumped above 1.4300from 1.4240 but it's been a steady slide lower after London went home. We carved out a fresh session low late.

The good news for risk trades was on yen crosses. They finish the day slightly higher for a rare win. Still, we didn't get a solid sign about where sentiment is headed. Even on a holiday, you would hope for a bit more.