The U.S. dollar was drifting lower as the dollar index weakened due to U.S. politicians cutting it close with passing the spending bill to avoid a government shutdown. While the House passed the bill yesterday, the Senate must now approve the spending bill in order to avoid the shut down. The USD was also hit by weaker housing starts and Philly Fed manufacturing index.
Earlier in the day, China’s GDP beat expectations rising 6.8% on the quarter and posting a 6.9% annualized GDP growth for the year ending 2017.
Looking ahead, the economic calendar is light. The UK’s retail sales report will be coming out but is expected to show a decline of 0.8% for the month of December.
