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Just ahead of the European cash open, gold (-0.25%) and silver (-0.42%) are once again lower. Gold is still largely rangebound as traders and investors look to the Fed (tomorrow) for more information at their latest rate decision and monetary policy update.
Overnight the risk tone was weak as the Nikkei 225 fell 0.96% and the Shanghai Composite (-1.51%) also struggled. Indian and Australian markets were closed due to public holidays.
In Europe, Italian Prime Minister Conte has told his cabinet that he is resigning and as reported yesterday he is likely to be forming a new government.
US Senate Democratic leader Schumer stated that they will attempt to pass President Biden's stimulus plan through the budget reconciliation process if it gets voted down by the GOP.
On the COVID-19 front, AstraZeneca has leapt to the defence of their vaccine refuting claims that it is only 8% successful for the over 65's. As the demand for the vaccine builds new US President Biden is still confident that his administration should be able to vaccinate 1m people a day in about 3 weeks.
As there were many markets closed overnight there was not much data or major newsflow. However, the New Zealand services PMI for December: improved to hit 49.2 vs the prior reading of 46.7.
In FX markets commodities currencies fared the worst overnight as CAD, NZD and AUD all fell against the greenback. GBP/USD was also hit pretty hard falling 0.45%.
Most commodities were soft overnight and in the base metals complex copper dropped around 1.26%. Only tin really managed to hold its head above water rising 0.46%
Looking ahead to the rest of the session highlights include UK jobless claims, US CB consumer confidence, weekly oil API inventories and US HPI data. There are also some big companies reporting with the likes of Microsoft, Starbucks and Verizon all providing updates.
By Rajan Dhall
For Kitco News
