Comments by German chancellor, Angela Merkel
An update to the latest view of the situation by the German government, which still suggests that lockdown measures may still be needed beyond the middle of February.

Biden to invoke orders to overhaul US approach to combat the virus crisis
Although Biden does promise to increase vaccine supply, the timeline in which the vaccine will be made available to the mass public is still relatively unknown for now. But he does pledge to vaccinate 100 million people in 100 days, so we’ll see.

Latest data from the Mortgage Bankers Association for the week ending 15 January 2021
–  +16.7%
– Market index 946.8 vs 965.2 prior
– Refinancing index 4,484.2 vs 4,706.3 prior
The drop in the overall market index comes from a larger decline in refinancing activity, meanwhile purchases surged higher once again as the housing market continues to keep more

GBP/USD touches its highest levels since May 2018
The pound is the standout performer on the session as cable climbs to a high of 1.3718 on the day, its highest levels since May 2018. The move here comes as the pound strengthens amid a breakdown in key technical support in EUR/GBP .

A statement released on Biden’s plan of actions ahead of his inauguration later in the day
In total, he will be signing 15 executive actions after the inauguration today but the above are among the notable ones laid out by the statement. Most of that has already been made known with the Keystone XL one having

Latest data released by Eurostat – 20 January 2021
The preliminary report can be found . No change to the initial estimates and this reaffirms that core inflation in the euro area keeps at a record low towards the end of 2020.

Gold has a slow start to 2021
Usually gold has a great start to the year on Chinese gold buying for the Lunar New year celebrations. In the last 10 years gold has risen eight years out of ten in January. The largest gain was in 2012 with a strong 9.14% rise. The biggest loss was

WSJ reports on the matter, citing a review of the text of Yellen’s remarks to the Senate Finance Committee
The also adds that Yellen is to affirm the US‘ commitment to market-determined exchange rates, making it clear that they are not seeking a weaker dollar for competitive advantage, according to officials familiar with her hearing

Gold continues to be caught in a battle around key technical levels
Gold is trading back towards its 100-hour moving average (red line) as buyers wrestle back some near-term control. However, that doesn’t mean all too much considering that price action appears to be stuck in a consolidation phase between $1,830 and $1,860.

The euro advances after the German ZEW survey data shows that investor sentiment continues to override lockdown pessimism
key technical support levels
Of note, the push higher during the session has also seen buyers take out the near-term trendline resistance in the latest swing move lower and now contesting a potential break of the 23.6 retracement level