Market News

With most global markets closed on Monday in celebration of the New Year, the open markets in South Korea and India found little to celebrate, trading slightly lower or flat on Monday.

The Euro surged against the US Dollar to a 3-week peak in thin holiday trade, however it is still expected to close out the year lower.

The US Dollar skidded to a 2-week trough versus the Japanese Yen after the release of disappointing economic data put the greenback under pressure and boosted demand for safe haven currencies.

Asian stock prices struggled to end up after profit-taking during Wednesday’s U.S. session caused major U.S. indices to dip.

The Aussie and Kiwi Dollars edged higher against the greenback, recouping earlier losses and helped by upbeat sentiment in global equity and commodity markets.

U.S. stocks rose slightly on Tuesday following positive consumer and housing data, and Asian stocks were eager to follow suit on Wednesday.

The US Dollar edged up versus the Japanese Yen in light FX trade as a result of holidays throughout Asia and Europe.

The European Central Bank has told Italy’s beleaguered Monte dei Paschi that it must come up with 8.8 billion euros ($9.2 billion), a sum significantly higher than the original 5 billion euros that the bank was expecting.

Though many markets will be closed on Monday as a legal celebration of Sunday’s Christmas holiday, Asian markets opened to thin trading volumes.

There will be an extremely light news schedule this week compared to last week, due to the Christmas and New Year holiday season affecting many global financial centers and major economies. There is almost nothing of any high importance scheduled, just a few items of U.S. economic data.

The U.S. dollar continue its upswing on Wednesday, hovering near 14-year highs despite some profit taking.

In an unsurprising announcement at the end of its two-day policy meeting, the Bank of Japan announced on Tuesday that it will maintain the country’s negative 0.1 percent interest rate and the 10-year Japanese government bond yield target at around zero.

Europe’s index of the leading 300 stocks pulled back from Friday’s 11-month high on Monday, with Germany’s DAX down 01. Percent and France’s CAC down 0.2 percent.

It is that time of year again! As the Forex market is centered in London and North America, traders should pay attention to their holiday season of Christmas and New Year 2016.

Asian shares hovered near last week’s lows on Monday as a Chinese seizure of a U.S. underwater drone added additional pressure to already uncomfortable Sino-U.S. relations.