Polls closing, bellwether N.Carolina in focus, Trump leads Florida, US dollar under pressure

Ross J Burland FXStreet

The US elections are the market's focus today.

Stakes have not been higher in generations for a nation in crisis and financial and commodity markets.

See the preview here:

US Elections are finally here: Buckle-in for volatility

Meanwhile, we are starting to get the first indications for some states.

Crucially, Florida has Trump in the lead according to the following New York Times gauge:

Florida is important because it has proposed ballots weeks before election day and results should be out today.

If Trump wins Florida he gets to stat in the race but if Biden wins in, to could be his path to the White House.

However, North Carolina has voted Republican in every election since 1980, bar 2008 when it surprisingly flipped for Barack Obama.

Exit polls show that the Republicans are battling back to catch up with the early Joe Biden scorecard that has a 19 point swing.

Donald Trump took the state for the Republicans in 2016, winning over Hillary Clinton by 3.6 per cent.

However, with a rapidly increasing suburban, college-educated population, the Tar Heel state’s 13 Electoral College votes were firmly in play for Joe Biden.

On an important side note, 4.5 million voted early, about 50% more than 2016.

Meanwhile, the US dollar is on the backfoot early into the voting:

Author

Ross J Burland

FXStreet

Ross J Burland, born in England, UK, is a sportsman at heart. He played Rugby and Judo for his county, Kent and the South East of England Rugby team.

EUR/USD flirts with weekly lows near 1.1770

EUR/USD now comes under further selling pressure, breaking below the 1.1800 support to challenge the area of weekly throughs near 1.1770 on Thursday. The pair’s decline comes in response to marked gains in the US Dollar amid steady geopolitical tensions. Ealier in the day, the ECB’s Lagarde delivered cautious remarks, although the currency remained apathetic.

GBP/USD makes a U-turn, challenges 1.3500

GBP/USD rapidly leaves behind Wednesday’s strong advance, putting the 1.3500 support to the test on Thursday. Cable’s deep pullback follows the strong gains in the Greenback, while investors continue to pencil in a potential BoE rate cut in March.

Gold sticks to the bid bias, flirts with $5,200

Gold is now facing some downside pressure, hovering around the $5,170 region on Thursday. The precious metal adds to Wednesday’s optimism despite the Greenback trades in a firm fashion, although geopolitical tensions in the Middle East keep the yellow metal bid for now.