🎍 New Year Trading Begins — Still Thin Liquidity, First Stop: UK & Eurozone PMI
The new year’s trading has kicked off, but market liquidity has not fully returned yet.
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Tokyo: closed for the New Year holidays
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Closed markets: New Zealand / China / Thailand / Switzerland / Russia
👉 Meaningful participation will likely resume from next week onward.
💡 Key Theme: Precious Metals Rebound — Supporting AUD
Gold and silver prices have started to recover, and that theme is providing underlying support for the Australian dollar.
Meanwhile:
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The year-end USD selling has paused
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Position adjustments are prompting USD short-covering
As a result, USD/JPY:
rebounded from the mid-156s toward 157.00
The recent improvement in U.S. jobless-claims data has also helped support the dollar.
👉 The key early-year question is whether this dollar buying will continue.
📊 Tonight’s Focus: Final Manufacturing PMI (UK / Eurozone / U.S.)
Today brings the final manufacturing PMI releases from:
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The United Kingdom
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The eurozone
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The United States
These typically carry less impact than the flash readings, so major FX pairs may remain range-bound.
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EUR/USD: mid-to-upper 1.17 area
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GBP/USD: centered in the high-1.34s
The recent USD rebound has calmed for now, and markets feel like they’re waiting for next week, when participation returns.
🌍 London Open: Stalling Just Below 157 in USD/JPY
European equities are trading firm, with the FTSE:
breaking above 10,000 for the first time ever.
USD/JPY briefly touched 156.99, but buying stalled near 157.00.
👉 AUD remains supported by the combination of equity strength + higher precious-metal prices.
🔎 Takeaway
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Liquidity remains thin → direction is hard to establish
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Resource & precious-metal strength keeps commodity currencies supported
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USD/JPY faces resistance just below 157.00
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Until liquidity normalizes next week,
“don’t chase” remains the prudent stance
