Forex news from European trading - 22 December 2017
Economic data:
- Germany Jan'18 GfK consumer confidence 10.8 vs 10.7 expected
- France Q3 final GDP q/q +0.6% vs +0.5% prelim
- Italy Oct industrial sales m/m +1.1% vs -1.2% prior
- UK Q3 final GDP q/q +0.4% vs +0.4% estimate
- Italy Dec consumer confidence 116.6 vs 114.0 expected
- Switzerland Dec KOF leading indicator 111.3 vs 110.5 expected
Central banks/Governments:
- China's SAFE: To keep CNY rate stable at reasonable level
- North Korea says Trump seeks "total subordination of the whole world"
Bitcoin/Cryptocurrencies:
- Bitcoin's fall this week sees it lose close to $100 billion in market value
- The balance of power for Bitcoin is shifting
- A harsh reality check for Bitcoin and Altcoins
- A catch up of what you missed in the cryptocurrency world over the past week
Others:
- FX option expiries for the 10am NY cut - 22 Dec 2017
- Reuters poll: 2/3 of global investors see the Fed raising rates 3 times in 2018
- Nikkei 225 closes up +0.16% at 22,902.76
- How tech companies target your daily life
Markets:
- CAD leads the way so far, EUR lags behind
- European equities mostly lower on the day so far
- Gold is up by 0.18% to $1,268.83
- WTI crude is down by 0.55% to $58.04
- US 10-year yields is flat at 2.48%
- Bitcoin is down by 9.7% at $13,896
It's a bloodbath out there in the cryptocurrency space today. Bitcoin and Altcoins are all down on the day - as a massive exodus of market cap hits the virtual currency, and boy did it hit hard.
As of now, Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ripple, Bitcoin Cash, and Litecoin are all down on the day - with the majority of them facing heavily losses. In % terms, it may not mean a lot, but value terms it's the biggest loss of market value that Bitcoin has suffered in its entirety.
Anyway, on to the FX space, CAD continues to lead the way as upbeat retail sales and CPI data from yesterday is still keeping the currency underpinned for the time being.
AUD also made some ground early in the session and has held onto gains, but it's been in a narrow range against the USD for the day. Do take note that there's a large option expiry for the AUD/USD at 0.7700 later.
Meanwhile, other pairs saw more range-bound movement more than anything else. Cable continues to play ping pong between the 1.3364 and 1.3400 levels on the day. It's been stuck in a narrow range for the last week, and with thin liquidity conditions coming up next week it's probably going to continue going nowhere until we have a fresh impetus of Brexit news.
The EUR is the laggard on the day as it fell to 1.1817 in the Asian session before recovering back to hug the 1.1850 level in European trading. The move lower was mainly due to the results of the Catalonia elections - where the separatists won the seating majority - and also some comments by Germany's foreign minister that there remains a possibility of a minority government being formed.
That's about it for today's European trading session - as all eyes were glued on the cryptocurrency space I would say. Anyway, just in case I don't get another chance I want to wish all our readers, followers, and the rest of our community a merry and wonderful Christmas; and happy holidays to all of you as well! :)
