Forex Today: Dollar’s weakness leads the way

FXStreet Team FXStreet

Here is what you need to know on Monday, December 30th:

The American dollar plunged in thin trading, extending its previous decline on the back of headlines indicating that the US and China are preparing a signing ceremony for phase one of the trade deal.
The EUR/USD neared 1.1200, while the GBP/USD briefly surpassed the 1.3100 mark, reaching two-week highs. Brexit concerns will son hit the Pound.
US equities hovered around their opening levels, ending the day mixed near record highs.
Gold consolidated gains above $1,500 a troy ounce.
Crude oil prices were down on Friday, despite US crude oil stockpiles fell by 5.4M in the week ended December 20. The commodity recovered some ground ahead of the close.
The Australian dollar remains the best performer, nears 0.7000 against the greenback.
Cryptocurrencies tried to recover some ground through the weekend, but thin volumes kept the advance in check. BTC/USD holds just above 7,000.00.

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FXStreet Team

FXStreet

Composed of a group of economic journalists and FX experts, the FXStreet content team produces and oversees all content published on FXStreet. It provides a purely journalistic approach to the Forex market.

GBP/USD advances to 1.3650 region despite weak sales data

GBP/USD trades in positive territory at around 1.3650 in the European session on Friday. Although Retail Sales data from the UK came in weaker than expected, the pair holds its ground, supported by the persistent US Dollar (USD) weakness following the Treasury Department's decision to boost long-term bond purchases earlier in the week.

EUR/USD holds near 1.1700 ahead of PMI data

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Gold hits fresh high since June above $4,550 as receding Fed hike bets undermine USD

Gold sticks to modest gains near its highest level since early June, touched earlier this Friday, and trades just above $4,550 heading into the European session. The commodity is looking to build on the breakout momentum above a technically significant 200-day Simple Moving Average amid a weaker US Dollar. Traders scaled back their bets on an immediate interest rate hike by the Fed after the latest US inflation data released last week signaled signs of cooling price pressures.

Bulls in control with Bitcoin heading toward $80,000, Ethereum $2,500, XRP $1.50

Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH) and Ripple (XRP) are extending their rallies as bullish momentum strengthens and continue to cheer the US Treasury’s decision to double its debt buyback operations. BTC has climbed nearly 20%, ETH over 25% and XRP nearly 30% so far this week.

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$20 billion offered, $2 billion taken: Why Treasury doubled its buyback cap

The US Treasury moved off its own calendar on Wednesday, and that is the part worth sitting with. At 12:32 GMT, the department said it would at least double the size of liquidity support buyback operations in the 10-year to 20-year and 20-year to 30-year sectors, lifting the maximum from $2 billion per operation to at least $4 billion, effective September 9 and running to November 4.