Here’s a brief overview for Monday, December 8th.
The United States dollar (USD) weakened against other major currencies, with the USD index declining to below 99.00 after two weeks of drops. This afternoon, the European Economic Calendar will present December’s Sentix Investor Confidence data.
USD price this month
The following table illustrates how the US dollar (USD) has performed against significant currencies this month. Notably, the dollar struggled the most against the Australian dollar.
| USD | EUR | GBP | JPY | CAD | AUD | NZD | CHF | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| USD | -0.56% | -0.70% | -0.57% | -1.13% | -1.46% | -0.91% | -0.02% | |
| EUR | 0.56% | -0.15% | 0.00% | -0.57% | -0.90% | -0.35% | 0.55% | |
| GBP | 0.70% | 0.15% | 0.41% | -0.43% | -0.76% | -0.21% | 0.69% | |
| JPY | 0.57% | 0.00% | -0.41% | -0.56% | -0.91% | -0.35% | 0.54% | |
| CAD | 1.13% | 0.57% | 0.43% | 0.56% | -0.39% | 0.23% | 1.12% | |
| AUD | 1.46% | 0.90% | 0.76% | 0.91% | 0.39% | 0.56% | 1.46% | |
| NZD | 0.91% | 0.35% | 0.21% | 0.35% | -0.23% | -0.56% | 0.90% | |
| CHF | 0.02% | -0.55% | -0.69% | -0.54% | -1.12% | -1.46% | -0.90% |
The heat map illustrates changes in major currencies. The base currency is listed on the left, and the quote currency is along the top row. For instance, selecting USD on the left and moving to JPY gives the percentage change as seen in the corresponding box.
Anticipation for a more dovish stance from the US Federal Reserve has been putting pressure on the dollar since early December. On Wednesday, the Fed is expected to announce its decisions on interest rates and share an updated Summary Economic Projections (SEP), which could sway the dollar’s behavior as we approach the holidays. Before the Fed meeting, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics is set to release October JOLTS job data on Tuesday. In the meantime, U.S. stock index futures edged slightly higher in Europe on Monday morning.
Looking to the Asian session, data from China indicated that exports in November rose by 5.9% year-on-year, while imports grew by 1.9% in that same time. The trade balance in November measured in Chinese yuan (CNY) reportedly increased to 792.57 billion yuan from 640.4 billion yuan in October.
The AUD/USD pair remained stable on Monday, staying around 0.6650 after a rise of nearly 1.5% last week. The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) is expected to maintain the interest rates at 3.6% in Tuesday’s Asian trading.
USD/JPY started the week somewhat stable above 155.00. Japan’s Finance Minister, Satsuki Katayama, commented that there have been swift and unilateral moves in the foreign exchange market and assured that Japan will act appropriately if needed.
After some fluctuations at the end of last week, the EUR/USD pair gradually rose on Monday, now trading positively above 1.1660.
GBP/USD was consolidating above 1.3300 in European trading on Monday, following a gain of about 0.75% last week.
Gold didn’t show a strong movement last week, but managed to stay above $4,200. On Monday morning in Europe, XAU/USD was slightly up, trading over $4,210.
