Close: London Session | Forex, Metals, Oil, Agriculture December 30, 2020

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Currencies

As this turbulent year winds to a close, with only two more trading days left in 2020, the dollar extended its drop, and yields moved higher. “Indian rupee appreciated on weaker dollar index and sustained foreign fund inflows. “The dollar”s fall was attributed to more position-building amid expectations that the currency is likely to fall more next year. Rather, currencies of countries that export commodities and manufactured goods are likely to keep strengthening against the dollar, as would be seen in a typical global recovery.
Gold prices rallied during Wednesday’s Asia Pacific trading session, capitalizing on fairly aggressive selling pressure in the US Dollar. But this time, reasons to expect a weaker dollar run even deeper. The dollar fell for a second day, as US net short bets rose to $30.15 billion in the week ending Dec 21. Gold was little changed, having dropped from session highs, as the dollar rebounded off its lows. The peso gained ground against the dollar in November, while inflation was closer to the target rate.
The U.S. dollar briefly rallied in March due to its haven role in investment portfolios.

Metals

GOLD TECHNICAL ANALYSIS In the short-run, gold prices remain biased higher, supported by a rising trendline from late November. The Gold Analyst offers quality technical and fundamental analysis of the price of gold to help educate readers in their investment decisions. Will that be in 2021, when Davos is studying the unusual topic of “The Great Reset?” Will we finally see substantially higher gold and silver prices next year? The flows of exchange-traded funds are also likely to have a major influence on gold’s price performance next year, he added.
Over the remaining 24 hours, gold and crude oil may continue benefiting from the cautiously optimistic mood in financial markets. Gold prices are trading down by 0.2% at Rs 49,950 per 10 grams. The inflationary prospects of the stimulus package may work in gold’s favor. Spot gold is currently trading at $1,879.34 per ounce as of 0911 GM. What does Turkey’s gold rush have to do with the creation of a new Islamic bank?
China Chengxin International Credit Rating Co. had an AAA rating on the miner when it failed to repay the equivalent of $153 million in short-term debt on Nov. 10.

Oil

I have worked in the areas of oil refining, natural gas production, synthetic fuels, ethanol production, butanol production, and various biomass to energy projects. Oil prices fell all the way into negative territory, and U.S. oil production fell in response. In 2019, global oil prices remained under pressure due to growing U.S. shale oil production. Yet could one of the reasons that oil and gas are up due to bitcoin prices that recently have gone parabolic?
I have over 20 years of international engineering experience in the chemicals, oil and gas, and renewable energy industries, and hold several patents related to my work. In December 2019, OPEC and Russia attempted to respond to sliding oil prices with new production cuts. Growth-linked crude oil also followed higher, tracking cautious optimism in S&P 500 and Dow Jones futures in fairly thin trading conditions ahead of the New Year’s holiday. The result was the beginning of a steep slide in oil prices that worsened as the pandemic gained a foothold in the U.S.
OPEC members met with Russia with the hope of announcing additional production cuts that might stabilize oil’s free fall.
Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, rose 0.80 per cent to $51.50 per barrel.

United States

President Trump has finally signed the new coronavirus relief and government funding package worth $900 billion into law. This followed a fairly choppy Wall Street trading session where equities declined on fading prospects of larger direct stimulus checks. But they also voted to override Trump’s veto of the $740 billion National Defense Authorization Act, which is likely to be seconded by the Senate. That premium has largely disappeared, though, as the Fed lowered short-term rates to near zero and launched a new round of asset purchases.
The Democratic-controlled House of Representatives voted on Monday to approve President Donald Trump’s demand to increase COVID-19 relief checks to $2,000. In 2020, the fiscal deficit (November 2019- October 2020) rose $3.1 trillion and was matched one for one with a $3.2 trillion increase in the Fed’s balance sheet. At this pace, the country is likely to miss Trump’s goal of 20 million doses by year-end, opening the door to cooling market optimism.
In the US, real interest rates (minus inflation or inflation expectations) is below zero. Today, Wall Street continues to use Zacks research including the Zacks Rank and Zacks Equity Research, which combines the best of quantitative and qualitative analysis. While the debate is ongoing, Treasury Steven Mnuchin said that the $600 direct deposit payments should be starting to arrive fairly shortly.

China

With China and the European Union poised to sign a long-stalled bilateral investment treaty, Biden administration efforts to isolate Beijing may be off to a rocky start.

Europe

MPS TO APPROVE EU-UK TRADE DEAL Adding to the positive tone in the UK, members of the British Parliament are about to approve the EU-UK trade deal. The ECB has been buying big quantities of eurozone government bonds, keeping their prices stable and making the investment safe for banks. Talking about the European Green Deal, the European Union has pledged to improve Europe’s climate by 2050 by applying technologies such as hydrogen and fuel cells. This effect is likely related to the EU financial rules with the ECB in Frankfurt.
This effect is likely related to the EU financial rules. However, news emerged on Tuesday that Ryanair planned to put restrictions on non-EU shareholders, including depriving them of their vote. In the past, Germany has weaker performance and the EU leadership made it a super-economy.

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