Summary:
- Oil.WTI drops despite large DOE inventory draw
- Bitcoin smashes through 12000 to reach new all-time high
- CAD also moving lower after BOC keep rates on hold;dovish shift in statement?
- ADP comes in around forecast. USD rises to 2-week high. NFP Friday
- GBP sensitive to Brexit talk progress
The latest inventory data from the US has seen another drop in the weekly reading, this time by 5.6M barrels. Against consensus calls for a -3.2M print after a previous reading of -3.4M today’s number is clearly a positive, but other parts of the release don’t look so good for oil bulls. In terms of market reaction there hasn’t been an immediate clear move in OIL.WTI which popped slightly higher before returning back towards its lowest levels of the day.
Since the beginning of December Bitcoin has already gained over $2,500 being mostly fueled by expectations that a launch of Bitcoin futures by CBOE and CME thereafter could increase institutional demand for the digital currency due to higher credibility to the cryptocurrency. Today the market has made yet another record peak, just shy of the $13000 handle.
The Bank of Canada have kept their overnight rate on hold at 1.0%, but the Canadian dollar has come under some selling pressure after a dovish shift is apparent in the accompanying statement.
According to the ADP report US companies added as much as 190k jobs in the past month matching the consensus and boding quite well before the Friday’s governmental data. The USD is edging higher once more today and the USDIDX has in fact hit its highest level in 2 weeks following the release.
The final non-farm payrolls of the year is due out on Friday and with traders still awaiting a reconciliation of the tax bill passed by each house, it could be a big week for the US dollar.
UK Brexit minister David Davis has testified before the Parliamentary Committee into leaving the bloc, however there have been neither precise questions nor answers thus far which could be a reason for a sell-off seen in the pound this morning. Sterling has since recovered somewhat and is trading little changed at the end of the European session.