Central Banks Left Interest Rates at the same Level

Yesterday, the main currency pairs had a high trading activity. Unidirectional trends were not observed. The dollar index (#DX) recouped some of the losses and completed the trading session in the positive zone (+0.24%). Support for the US currency was provided by optimistic economic reports. In November, retail sales in the US increased by 0.8%. Market expectations were at 0.3%. At the same time, the growth of the dollar was moderate. Federal Reserve System statements continue to put pressure on the US currency.

The National Bank of Switzerland, the Bank of England and the ECB, as expected, left interest rates unchanged. The ECB increased the forecast for the economic growth of the Eurozone this year to 2.4% from 2.2%. The head of the Central Bank Mario Draghi said that the level of inflation remained at a low level. The regulator intended to adhere to the current rate of the monetary policy. These statements caused pressure on the single currency. The Head of Bank of Canada Stephen Poloz noted positive changes in the labor market. Next year, the regulator may consider raising the interest rates.

The “black gold” price have begun to recover. At the moment, futures for the WTI oil are testing a mark of $57.25 per barrel. Participants of the financial markets expect statistics on drilling activity in the United States.

Market Indicators

Major US stock indices closed in the negative zone: #SPY (0.41%), #DIA (0.30%) and #QQQ (0.07%).

At the moment, the 10year US government bonds yield is at the level of 2.352.36%.

Today, the publication of important economic reports is not planned. We recommend you to pay attention to the following statistics:

The Eurozone trade balance at 12:00 (GMT+2:00);Sales in the manufacturing sector of Canada at 15:30 (GMT+2:00);The volume of industrial production in the US at 16:15 (GMT+2:00).

by JustMarkets, 2017.12.15