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Americas Roundup: Dollar index hits lowest since Sept. 26, Wall Street ends higher, Gold dips on profit-taking, U.S. crude advances to fresh two-year high-November 25th, 2017

Market Roundup

• US Nov Markit Comp Flash PMI, 54.6, 55.2 previous.

• US Nov Markit Mfg PMI Flash, 53.8, 54.8 forecast, 54.6 previous.

• US Nov Markit Services PMI Flash, 54.7, 55.3 previous.

• Britain has 10-day "absolute deadline" to deliver on key Brexit issues-Tusk.

• Irish government set to fall weeks before Brexit summit.

• What political crisis? German business morale hits record high.

• German SPD considers propping up Merkel, but only if members agree.

• Venezuela's PDVSA says making bond payments, urges trust.

• Regulators edge closer to deal with global bank capital rules.

• Russia ready to support oil output deal as OPEC meeting looms.

• Canada posts larger Sept budget deficit as expenditures increase.

Looking Ahead - Economic Data (GMT)

• No major economic events are scheduled

Looking Ahead - Events, Other Releases (GMT)

• No major events are scheduled

Currency Summaries

EUR/USD is likely to find support at 1.1857 levels and currently trading at 1.1927 levels. The pair has made session high at 1.1940 and hit lows at 1.1850 levels. The euro strengthened against the U.S. dollar on Friday as greenback continued its downward march as investors grew optimistic about the strength of the euro zone's recovery and lost appetite for the greenback. The euro hit its highest since Sept. 25 against the dollar, up 0.65 percent on the day and more than 1 percent for the week. It was the single currency's third straight week of gains, its best run since July, and second straight 1 percent weekly gain. On Thanksgiving Thursday, while markets in the U.S. were closed, eurozone business growth surveys showed surprise growth, supporting the European Central Bank (ECB) move last month to announce a throttling back of its monetary stimulus. The currency bloc's latest Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) readings suggest the upturn still has momentum. The dollar index fell to its lowest since Sept. 26 at 92.675, having suffered its worst single-day decline in more than five months on Wednesday after minutes from the Federal Reserve's latest meeting showed some policymakers were concerned about stubbornly weak U.S. inflation. For the week, the dollar index fell nearly 1 percent, its worst weekly loss since September.

GBP/USD is supported in the range of 1.3249 levels and currently trading at 1.3329 levels. It reached session high at 1.3359 and dropped to session low at 1.3305 levels. Sterling claimed against the dollar on Friday as a break of some key technical levels in a holiday-shortened market prompted some traders to rein in their short positions. With increasing signs of general dollar weakness across the board and growing signs that a way may be found out of a German political deadlock also bolstered the pound. Germany's Social Democrats bowed to pressure from across the political spectrum on Friday to consider helping Chancellor Angela Merkel form a new government, but pledged that party members would have final say on any deal. For many sterling traders, the Dec. 13-14 EU summit marks a critical juncture in the process of Britain leaving the bloc, with some market analysts seeing it as a potential make-or-break moment for the pound. At stake is whether Prime Minister Theresa May can satisfy other EU leaders that Britain has made enough commitments on issues including a financial settlement bill and the Irish border to quickly start trade negotiations next year as the clock ticks down. European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said on Friday that a meeting with May on Dec. 4 would allow the EU to see whether sufficient progress had been made on Brexit. In a week shortened by holidays in the United States and Japan, the British pound rose 0.4 percent to $1.3358, its highest since Oct. 2.

USD/CAD is supported at 1.2671 levels and is trading at 1.2708 levels. It has made session high at 1.2725 and lows at 1.2691 levels. The Canadian dollar strengthened slightly against its broadly weaker U.S. counterpart on Friday, as U.S. crude prices extended gains at a two-year high while widening bond yield spreads weighed on the loonie in holiday-affected trade. The dollar index fell to its lowest since Sept. 26 at 92.675. The index suffered its worst single-day decline in more than five months on Wednesday after minutes from the Federal Reserve's latest policy meeting showed some policymakers are concerned about stubbornly weak U.S. inflation. U.S. crude prices were up 1.28 percent at $58.76 a barrel, while Brent added 0.19 percent to $63.67, with the North American markets tightening on the partial shutdown of a pipeline linking Canada with the United States. The Canadian dollar was last trading at C$1.2709 to the greenback, or 78.64 U.S. cents, up 0.03 percent. The currency's strongest level of the session was C$1.2702, while its weakest level was C$1.2747.

AUD/USD is supported around 0.7604 levels and currently trading at 0.7617 levels. It hit session high at 0.7626 and made session lows at 0.7605 levels. Australian dollar paused after three days of gains as oil prices rose and the greenback suffered losses on speculation the U.S. Federal Reserve will go slower on monetary tightening than previously thought. The Australian dollar held at $0.7617 from Thursday's high of $0.7638, the highest since Nov.14. The U.S. dollar was on track for weekly losses against most rivals. It remained under pressure after skidding on Wednesday following minutes from the Federal Reserve's latest policy meeting showing some policymakers fretting about stubbornly weak inflation. Overall, trading was quiet in a holiday-shortened week in the United States and Japan. The first Ashes cricket test between Australia and England that began on Thursday also served as a distraction for forex traders. Iron ore, Australia's top export earner, has risen nearly 16 percent so far this month on hopes of higher demand. Coal prices were well bid too. The Australia and New Zealand central banks are set to keep interest rates at record lows of 1.50 percent and 1.75 percent respectively for a long time to come.

Equities Recap

European shares ended little changed on Friday, underpinned by gains among heavyweight financial stocks, which helped the pan-European index snap a two-week losing streak.

UK's benchmark FTSE 100 closed down 0.05 percent, FTSEurofirst 300 ended the day down by 0.09 percent, Germany's Dax ended up by 0.45 percent, France’s CAC finished the day up by 0.22 percent.

Technology stocks led the S&P 500 and Nasdaq to record high closes on Black Friday, while Amazon and retail stocks got a boost from signs of a strong start to the holiday shopping season.

Dow Jones closed up by 0.14 percent, S&P 500 ended up 0.21 percent, Nasdaq finished the day up by 0.32 percent.

Treasuries Recap 

U.S. Treasury yields rose on Friday but stayed within the tight range they have held for the past week-and-a-half as investors focused on the inflation outlook.

Benchmark 10-year notes fell 6/32 in price to yield 2.34 percent, up from 2.32 percent on Wednesday. The yields have held between 2.32 percent and 2.38 percent since Nov. 15.

The yield curve between two-year and 10-year notes was 59 basis points, just above the 57 basis point level reached on Tuesday, which was the flattest since late 2007.

Commodities Recap

Gold prices dipped on Friday as some investors locked in profits at the end of the week, and risk appetite strengthened, but expectations hovered that gold prices could move higher next week.

Spot gold was down 0.3 percent at $1,287.70 an ounce by 1:46 p.m. EST (1846 GMT), on track for a 0.5 percent weekly decline.
U.S. gold futures for December delivery settled down $4.90, or 0.4 percent, at $1,287.30 per ounce.

U.S. oil prices hit their highest levels in more than two years on Friday after the continued shutdown of a pipeline running from Canada to the United States was expected to reduce supply into a major storage facility.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures (WTI) settled up 93 cents, or 1.6 percent, at $58.95 a barrel. Benchmark Brent crude rose 31 cents, or 0.49 percent, to settle at $63.86 a barrel.

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