Currencies
EUR/USD – was again able to find some support around the 1.052 level, just as it has done in last few weeks. More pressure is expected though as we come closer to Wednesday when the FED is expected to raise the interest rate. More importantly will be the so called dot plot which shows how the different FED members see the interest rate progress.
USD/JPY – finally took out the 115 level after breaking out of the triangle and is continuing to move higher. It really appears that any drop is used to buy more. It is very close to the next resistance level, but as recent weeks have shown, the resistance is only a temporary obstacle.
GBP/USD – moved a bit lower on Friday, but is already trading above that level again, even though the USD keeps gaining strength and the Dollar Index is nearing the highest level reached at the last week of November.
USD/CAD – is continuing its downwards trend as oil strengthened further and is now trading at the support around the 1.312 level.
Indices
China A50 – dropped as new regulation in China prevents massive buying of stocks.
S&P 500 – as is becoming a regular occurrence already, the S&P closed and marked a new record high on Friday.
Commodities
Gold – continues to move lower as the USD is still strong. Since election night in the US we have dropped nearly $200 an ounce, and this could be extended further depending on how the FED sees the interest rate path in 2017.
Oil – OPEC and non-OPEC countries reached an agreement to cut production from non-OPEC countries by nearly 560K bpd, short of the intended 600K bpd. Nonetheless, in a reaction oil moved up sharply and reached the highest level since July 2015. However, Saudi Arabia reached a new record production in November as output in other countries also increased, which still casts doubts on the intent to really follow through on the agreement. In addition the number of active rigs in the US continued to climb higher, which indicates that production in the US is likely to increase as well in the coming weeks.
Stocks
Boeing (NYSE:BA) – reached an agreement to sell 80 aircraft to Iran, a deal estimated worth close to $17 billion. However, it still needs to go through the US Congress, as the House last month passed a bill which would prevent precisely such a sale.