US House Intelligence Committee votes down Republican request to compel testimony by impeachment whistleblower and Hunter Biden

Ross J Burland FXStreet

The US House Intelligence Committee voted down the Republican request to compel testimony by impeachment by impeachment whistleblower and Hunter Biden.

This follows the news that US Representative Devin Nunes, the top Republican on the House of Representatives Intelligence Committee, said that Republicans had requested subpoenas including a demand for testimony by Hunter Biden. Biden is the son of former U.S. Vice President Hunter Biden and the impeachment whistleblower.

"Republicans do not have subpoena power in the House, where Democrats hold a majority of seats, but the request underscored partisan bitterness in the impeachment enquiry into President Donald Trump and his dealings with Ukraine," Patricia Zengerle and Doina Chiacu argued, editors at Reuters.

FX implications:

Joe Biden is a leading candidate for the Democratic nomination to oppose Trump’s bid for re-election in 2020. The whistleblower complaint alleged that Trump used the call to seek foreign help for personal political gain, a charge broadly substantiated by the testimonies of current and former US officials in three weeks of closed hearings. Trump's impeachment is, of course, a risk hanging over financial and global markets and the yen would b the beneficiary of sentiment leaning that direction.

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 remains offered below 1.1800, looks at US data

EUR/USD is still trading on the defensive in the latter part of Thursday’s session, while the US Dollar maintains its bid bias as investors now gear up for Friday’s key release of the PCE data, advanced Q4 GDP prints and flash PMIs.

GBP/USD bounces off monthly lows near 1.3430

GBP/USD is sliding in tandem with its risk-sensitive peers, drifting back towards the 1.3430 area, its lowest levels in the month. The move reflects a firmer Greenback, supported by another round of solid US data and a somewhat divided FOMC Minutes.

Gold drifts higher to near $5,000 on heightened US-Iran tensions

Gold price holds positive ground near $5,000 during the early Asian session on Friday. The precious metal edges higher as escalating tensions between the United States and Iran boost safe-haven demand. Traders brace for the preliminary reading of US Gross Domestic Product for the fourth quarter, the Personal Consumption Expenditures and the S&P Global Purchasing Managers Index data, which are due later on Friday.

XRP edges lower as SG-FORGE integrates EUR stablecoin on XRP Ledger

Ripple’s (XRP) outlook remains weak, as headwinds spark declines toward the $1.40 psychological support at the time of writing on Thursday.

Hawkish Fed minutes and a market finding its footing

It was green across the board for US Stock market indexes at the close on Wednesday, with most S&P 500 names ending higher, adding 38 points (0.6%) to 6,881 overall. At the GICS sector level, energy led gains, followed by technology and consumer discretionary, while utilities and real estate posted the largest losses.

Injective token surges over 13% following the approval of the mainnet upgrade proposal

Injective price rallies over 13% on Thursday after the network confirmed the approval of its IIP-619 proposal. The green light for the mainnet upgrade has boosted traders’ sentiment, as the upgrade aims to scale Injective’s real-time Ethereum Virtual Machine architecture and enhance its capabilities to support next-generation payments.