Japan’s PM Kishida calls on firms to give wage hikes that exceed inflation

EUR/USD stays on the back foot and declines toward 1.1700 on Friday. The pair faces headwinds from a renewed uptick in the US Dollar as investors look past softer US inflation data. However, the EUR/USD downside appears capped by expectations of the Fed-ECB monetary policy divergence. 

Following Thursday's volatile session, GBP/USD moves sideways below 1.3400 on Friday. Investors reassess the Bank of England's policy oıtlook after the MPC decided to cut the interest rate by 25 bps by a slim margin. Meanwhile, the US Dollar benefits from the cautious market stance, limiting the pair's upside.

Gold holds the previous day's late pullback from the vicinity of the record high and stays in the red below $4,350 in the European session on Friday. The US CPI report released on Thursday pointed to cooling inflationary pressures, but the US Dollar seems resilient amid a fresh bout of short-covering.

Bitcoin (BTC) is edging higher, trading above $88,000 at the time of writing on Monday. Altcoins, including Ethereum (ETH) and Ripple (XRP), are following in BTC’s footsteps, experiencing relief rebounds following a volatile week.

One month of softer inflation data is rarely enough to shift Federal Reserve policy on its own, but in a market highly sensitive to every data point, even a single reading can reshape expectations. November’s inflation report offered a welcome sign of cooling price pressures. 

Ethereum price today: $2,920. The EF noted that Ethereum's growing state could lead to centralization and weaken censorship resistance. The Stateless Consensus team outlined state expiry, state archive and partial statelessness as potential solutions to the growing state load.