Gold and silver have moved higher heading into a q...
(Kitco News) - Gold (0.21%) and silver (0.87%) are once again positive heading into the EU open. As it is Christmas eve it would be fair to expect that markets could be very quiet but there is always a small probability that a market-moving event may occur. The risk sentiment in the Asia-Pac area was mixed as the Nikkei 225 (0.54%) and ASX (0.33%) closed higher but the Shanghai Composite closed (0.33%) in the red. This could be due to a lacklustre liquidity injection from the PBoC and the Chinese government announced that there would be an investigation in Alibaba.
A Brexit deal looks all but confirmed as there has been a string of positive news coming out of the talks between the UK and EU. There are UK press reports that Prime Minister Johnson is expected to make a Brexit announcement at 11am Thursday.
Over in the US, there is still some opposition to Donald Trump's $2000 dollar stimulus cheques. This time US GOP leader McCarthy said he will be opposing the proposal. Trump went on an epic rant to explain why he would not be signing a deal explaining that there is lots of wasted money that could be used elsewhere to make more of a positive difference.
On the coronavirus front, the new strain of the virus is still causing havoc around the world. More of the UK and Europe has been put under stricter measures as it seems that the new strain is spreading faster. Although it is not completely known Pfizer say the vaccine should still be effective against the mutation but only time will tell.
Looking ahead to today's session highlights include the Turkish central bank rate decision, US core durable goods orders, Canadian building permits and Japanese employment numbers. There are also many early closures for Christmas.
