The US dollar came under heavy pressure with the US Dollar Index striking a near 3-year trough as markets gauged the outcome of the Georgia Senate race. Analysts and networks have already called the win for Democrat Raphael Warnock against Kelly Loefler; pundits are predicting that Democrat Jon Ossoff will beat Republican challenger David Purdue when all the counting is finally done. Official word is expected later today. With gaining control of the Senate, and thus all three houses of government, analysts expect to see another stimulus package roll out shortly after President-Elect Joe Biden takes office. Analysts admit that they had not foreseen a duel Democratic win as Jon Ossoff was a relative unknown waging a race against an incumbent Senator.
In London trading as of 11:18 am, the GBP/USD was trading at $1.3657, a gain of 0.3011%; the pair has ranged from a trough of $1.35911 to a peak of $1.36719 in today's session. The EUR/USD was higher at $1.2341, up 0.349% and off the session high of $1.23463 with the low recorded at $1.22752.
PMIs Disappoint Across Eurozone
A slew of PMI reports were released earlier today in the EU. Primarily, the data for the services and composite sectors was disappointing; across the board, the actual numbers failed to meet analysts' forecasts. In Germany, the largest economy, the December reading for the services sector was at 47 against an expected 47.5, while the composite was at 52 against a forecast of 52.5. Similarly, France, the second largest EU economy, had reports of 49.1 and 49.5 against a prediction of 49.2 and 49.6 for the services sector and composite, respectively. The Eurozone report was also disappointing at 46.4 and 49.1 against a predicted 47.3 and 49.9. The only bright spot was Spain's services sector report which came in at 48, besting the 45 reading that had been expected.