The Brexit uncertainty sparked a flight to safety on Friday. Safe haven currencies, the yen, and the Swiss franc were bid higher. Dovish comments from Fed officials, Clarida, and Harker who expressed some doubt about the December rate hike kept the U.S. Dollar’s rally in check.
Gold prices also advanced strongly on the day as investors’ risk appetite waned on renewed concerns that the UK and the EU could part with no Brexit deal in hand.
The uncertainty of a no-confidence vote alongside the possibility of a second referendum also drove risk appetite lower. On the economic front, The ECB President spoke earlier in the day. He cautioned that inflation could dip in the coming months. However, the final inflation figures for October showed that headline CPI rose 2.2% annually while core inflation rose 1.1%.
Canada’s manufacturing sales was seen rising 0.2%, beating estimates of a 0.1% increase.
A slow start to the week, this Monday will see the release of the Eurozone’s current account data. This is later followed by the Eurogroup meetings. Brexit will remain in the headlines amid lack of any further economic reports on the day.
Following last week’s resignations from the cabinet on the EU and the UK Brexit draft deal, the Eurogroup meeting starts today. We can expect further headlines on Brexit to dominate the newswires
