Forex Today: EUR drops, AUD pops in Asia, UK data in focus

A quiet Asian affair, with some selling seen in the EUR across the board following the outcome of the Catalan election. As a result, the US dollar sharply against its main competitors, while the reports that the US Congress voted to avert a government shutdown also lifted the sentiment around the buck. The Aussie emerged the top gainer, while the Kiwi and USD/JPY traded modestly flat among the Asia-pac currencies.

Among other related markets, the Asian stocks were mostly higher, while commodities’ prices were broadly sold-off into notable USD demand, with copper prices losing the most.

Main topics in Asia

Majority of U.S. House supports temporary funding to avoid govt shutdown - Reuters

Reuters recently reported that the majority of the U.S. House of Representatives supports the temporary funding to operate the government through January 19. Voting continues. 

Japan's Cabinet approves FY 2018/19 budget, biggest amount on record

Japan's Cabinet approves annual general-account budget spending worth 97.7128 trln yen in FY 2018/19, the biggest amount on record, Reuters reports.

Three reasons why Catalan secessionists won

Are you surprised by the Catalan election results? You must have been blind before the elections then.

Goldman Sachs considering setting up a cryptocurrency trading desk

Bloomberg quoted to the people with the knowledge of the strategy, citing that the US banking giant, Goldman Sachs is mulling over a plan to build a cryptocurrency trading desk.

N. Korea's leader Kim: Capable of posing a "substantial" nuclear threat to the US

Reuters reports the latest comments cited by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), the state media, from the North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.

UN mulls banning 90% of oil product exports to North Korea

The Nikkei Asian Review is out with the latest headlines, citing the United Nations (UN) Security Council is considering additional sanctions on North Korea over its continued development of proscribed nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles.

Key Focus ahead

The economic calendar is quite eventful on the final trading day before the Christmas week, with the EUR, GBP traders eagerly awaiting the UK final GDP and current account releases for fresh trading impetus. Meanwhile, there is absolutely no macro news to be reported from the EUR docket.

In the NA session, traders will watch out for the key Canadian GDP report that will be released alongside the US durable goods, core PCE price index, personal spending, and revised consumer sentiment data.

EUR/USD under pressure on Catalan election results

The risk of further political turmoil between the Spanish and the Catalan governments, coupled with worries over a minority government in Germany, are the main drivers pushing the European shared currency…

GBP/USD stuck in 20-pips range ahead of UK GDP

The GBP/USD pair managed to reverse a brief dip to 1.3369 lows reached in early Asia and now makes another attempts to regain 1.34 handle, as we progress towards late-Asian/ early European trading.

GBP: To buy or not to buy? - Rabobank

The morning headlines in the UK press are dominated by yet another tale of misfortune for PM Theresa May as her closest ally Damian Green was ordered to resign last night on the findings of a Cabinet Office investigation, points out Jane Foley, Senior FX Strategist at Rabobank.