Fed's Yellen: Labor market now at normal state

EUR/USD slides 0.05% as the week begins, courtesy of broad US Dollar strength, amid choppy trading as traders brace for the Federal Reserve monetary policy decision. At the time of writing, the pair trades at 1.1637 after hitting a daily high of 1.1672.

GBP/USD found little momentum on either side of the line on Monday, with the Cable pair churning chart paper just north of the 1.3300 handle to kick off a fresh trading week. Broad-market sentiment is largely hinging on an upcoming interest rate decision from the Federal Reserve due during the midweek, and investors are shunning stepping too far into either the bullish or bearish side in the runup to one of the biggest rate calls of the year.

Gold price trades in negative territory around $4,195 during the early Asian session on Tuesday. The precious metal edges lower amid concerns that the US Federal Reserve will adopt a hawkish tone in its rhetoric, despite delivering a rate cut on Wednesday. 

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.

This week we get a lot of data releases but the biggie is all those central bank decisions. Canada, Australia and Switzerland are expected to stay on hold, but the Fed is expected to cut.

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).