Summary:

• First charges of Mueller’s Russia probe announced
• Paul Manafort and Rick Gates charged in a 12-count indictment
• Gold and US dollar fairly mixed on the day

Donald Trump’s former campaign chair Paul Manafort has turned himself into the US FBI to face indictments as the special counsel investigation into Russia’s 2016 presidential election interference has quickly escalated. A second former Trump campaign aide, Rick Gates, has also been charged as the 6-month investigation led by special counsel Robert Mueller has finally provided a public glimpse into the probe. 

 The US dollar is making some small gains today on balance. Source: xStation

What the charges mean in broader terms from a market perspective will depend on how closely Donald Trump is linked to them. Remember that the investigation was previously being run by Comey, before Trump fired him. Donald Trump has already responded to the latest developments, taking to twitter to air his views with the following posts:

“Sorry, but this is years ago, before Paul Manafort was part of the Trump campaign. But why aren’t Crooked Hillary & the Dems the focus??????”

“Also, there is NO COLLUSION!”.

There has been a little bit of upside seen in Gold since the news broke but overall the market appears to be in a wait-and-see mode. It could be a major week ahead for the precious metal with ISM releases, the Fed rate decision and NFPs all due out. On top of that there is also the possibility that Trump will announce his nomination for the next Fed chair and now with this investigation in Russian meddling seemingly heating up there are many things that could impact the market going forward.  

 The Gold price is little changed on the day with the market pausing at the start of what could be a busy week. The October low of 1260 remains a potentially key support level to keep an eye on with this region now coinciding with the 200 day SMA. Source: xStation