Markets quiet, dollar lower

Scott Petruska, CFA

December 31, 2020

Markets quiet, dollar lower, stocks holding near record highs

In quiet end-of-year trading, the dollar is lower, mostly against the Australian dollar, which climbed to fresh 2 ½ year highs. Stocks are holding near record highs amid year-end USD funding needs which were not under pressure. US Initial Jobless Claims were better than expected this morning. US Treasuries, oil and gold are all little changed overnight. Markets in Japan, Germany, and S. Korea were closed today, and most stock markets around the world will be closed tomorrow for New Year’s Day.

“Life can only be understood backwards; but must be lived forwards.”

Soren Kierkegaard, Danish philosopher

FX Rates
December 31, 2020

Rates are not real time. Rates are today's indicative mid-market rates as of time of publishing, which may vary. Please contact SVB for a current quote.

EUR/USD 1.227
GBP/USD 1.3645
USD/CAD 1.2718
AUD/USD 0.7736
USD/JPY 103.07
USD/CNH 6.5034
USD/ILS 3.2152
USD/MXN 19.8706
USD/CHF 0.8802
USD/INR 73.0700
USD
The dollar is ending the year lower and within a well-entrenched downtrend which began March 20 of this year. Year-end funding needs was not unusual this time around, meaning no excessive demand for the dollar. US jobless claims data came in better than expected. Markets are closed tomorrow.
GBP
The UK pound edged higher, reaching $1.3686, its highest level since May 2018. It is ending the year up 3.0%, lagging most other G-10 currencies. After UK Parliament approved the UK-EU post-Brexit deal yesterday, tonight at 11pm London time Britain formally exits the European Union’s trading bloc.
EUR
The euro fell slightly overnight as the Stoxx Europe 600 Index fell 0.4%.
CAD
The Canadian dollar gained 0.3% overnight, in line with broad US dollar weakness and ahead of next week’s OPEC+ meeting. No economic data for Canada was reported today.
ASIA/PACIFIC
The Chinese yuan dropped in value overnight, leading to an outperformance of Chinese stocks.

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Source: Bloomberg

This article is intended for U.S. audiences only.

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WRITTEN BY

Scott Petruska, CFA

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