Afternoon Market Update – 21/11/2016 – by Jaz Singh

The dollar has retreated in early trade for this week, with dollar index currently trading around the 101.00 level. This follows persistent gains in the greenback over the past fortnight after Trump’s presidential victory. The Euro has seen the largest gains among the major currencies versus the dollar today, gaining 0.3 percent. This is more likely a technical move as traders take profits from the short Euro trend of last week. Draghi’s speech this afternoon shall be key if this Euro strength is to persist. Elsewhere the USDJPY has retreated slightly, with resistance being found just above the 111.00 level. European bourses have been choppy this morning, with the DAX bouncing from just below 10,600 and currently trading near 10,700. Similar moves have been seen in the FTSE. European equity traders will also be keeping an eye on Draghi this afternoon, looking to gain insight into the ECB’s plans for stimulus. Crude oil is trading higher for the day as OPEC members continue to negotiate an output deal. The hope is that the preliminary agreement made at the OPEC meeting in September can be signed off at the cartel’s next meeting at the end of this month.