ECB's Vasle: Market pricing for rate cuts is excessive

EUR/USD struggles to find direction and trades in a narrow channel on Monday. Investors refrain from taking large positions ahead of this week's critical Fed policy meeting, allowing the pair to stay in a consolidation phase following two consecutive weeks of bullish action. US Dollar gains ground as risk aversion kicks in. 

GBP/USD corrects lower toward 1.3300 on Monday after posting gains in the previous week. The markets adopt a cautious stance ahead of the highly-anticipated Fed meeting, making it difficult for the pair to gather bullish momentum. 

Gold turned south after Wall Street's opening, trading south of $4,200. The US Dollar finds additional legs on a souring mood on Monday as market participants prepare for the upcoming Fed meeting, which will provide key insights into the short-term policy outlook.

The Reserve Bank of Australia is on track to leave the Official Cash Rate unadjusted at 3.6%, following the conclusion of its December monetary policy meeting on Tuesday. The decision will be announced at 03:30 GMT, accompanied by the Monetary Policy Statement. RBA Governor Michele Bullock’s press conference will follow at 04:30 GMT.

Silver just hit a new all-time high. Neither did gold, nor mining stocks. They all reversed on an intraday basis, but silver’s move to new highs makes it still bullish overall, while the almost complete reversals in gold and miners make the latter technically bearish.

Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Ripple record a minor recovery on Monday, starting the week on a positive note. The retail demand for major cryptocurrencies remains strong despite outflows from Bitcoin and Ethereum Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs).