Forex Today: Brexit remains the center of the universe

Here is what you need to know on Tuesday, December 15:

Market participants struggled with Brexit headlines and covid news. The dollar was under strong selling pressure throughout the first half of the day, recovering some ground during the American session. Still, it closed in the red against most major rivals and retains its weak stance.

The EUR/USD pair flirted with this year’s high while GBP/USD peaked at 1.3445, driven by Brexit hopes. Both pairs gapped higher at the weekly opening, as trade talks were extended into this week. Throughout the day, contradictory headlines flooded news feeds.  EU’s chief negotiator Michel Barnier noted that despite they are still far apart of fisheries, he believes that they could still reach a deal in the coming days.

Coronavirus-related headlines hurt the market’s mood as  British Health Secretary Matt Hancock announced London would be placed into the toughest tier of coronavirus restrictions starting on Wednesday, amid a sharp rise in infection rates. Hancock added that a new variant of the virus has been identified and that the health system is already under pressure. Germany and the Netherlands also imposed fresh lockdowns.

The US started with COVID-19 immunization, but the number of doses actually available is mostly symbolic. In the meantime, several states have announced restrictive measures in an attempt to curb contagion.

Gold was under mild-pressure, ending the day in the red below $1,930 a troy ounce. Crude oil prices fell after the OPEC cut Q1 oil demand’s forecast by 1 mbpd, but quickly recovered afterward. WTI settled at $47 a barrel.

US indexes opened the day with sharp gains but trimmed them ahead of the close. Only the Nasdaq was able to post some modest intraday gains.

Treasury yields surged during European trading hours amid ruling optimism, but shed ground ahead of the close. The yield on the benchmark 10-year note peaked at 0.94%  but settled around 0.88%.

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