Forex Today: Focus on trade wars and Brexit remains top priority

Here is what you need to know on Wednesday, November 20:

Trade: A quiet day on the trade war front but there is an immediate focus here. The financial and commodity markets are waiting for further headlines or updates on this front before making their moves one way or the other. The latest was that the US administration had extended Huawei’s license to do business with American companies. Yesterday, CNBC reported scepticism from China, especially due to Trump’s reluctance to scale back on tariffs. China has reportedly demanded that all tariffs imposed after May be removed immediately while tariffs imposed before that be lifted gradually. US officials are unlikely to bow down to that and hold a different view as to how much a Phase One dal would cover and what portion of the tariffs they should agree to scale back on.

UK Elections: The ITV debate ended with mixed polls. A snap ITV Twitter poll, in fact, put Corbyn in the lead by a huge percentage as follows (29,665 votes):

• 78% Jermy Corbyn won.
• 22% said Johnson won.

YouGov / Sky News snap chat Poll: Who performed best:

• Johnson 51%
• Corbyn 49%
• Excluding don’t knows
• Just over 1,600 respondents

Meanwhile, major polls had the Tory party in with a double-digit lead aha of the event. GBP was bid to 1.2985 on the notion that Johnson has a deal that the Tory party will back on an election victory.  

US data: US data showed that the US housing market was indicating ongoing strength – Housing starts rebounded in October rising 3.8% MoM, just coming in below expectations but offset by a downward revision to the fall in September. Housing permits rose 5.0% MoM, beating expectations of an unchanged outcome.

Recap: The RBA minutes, out in yesterday’s Asian session, were a little more dovish than expected considering that a November rate cut was, in fact, actively discussed; The Board is waiting for more evidence about the impact of the easing that had already occurred. Market sentiment is that the RBA will likely cut again at forthcoming meetings, at the RBA’s next forecast update in February 2020.