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Forex markets stabilise ahead of US, EU data

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Major currency pairs fluctuate in relatively tight ranges early Thursday as investors await the next fundamental catalyst.

The US economic calendar will feature weekly Initial Jobless Claims data and the US Treasury will hold a 10-year Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities (TIPS) auction. Additionally, the European Commission will release the preliminary Consumer Confidence data for January.

The DXY Dollar Index struggled to gain traction on Wednesday as the improving risk mood made it difficult for the USD to find demand. US stock index futures trade marginally lower early Thursday, pointing to a cautious market stance, while the DXY holds steady above 108.00.

US President Donald Trump said late Wednesday that he would impose high levels of sanctions on Russia and tariff imports if they fail to reach a settlement to end its war against Ukraine.

USDCAD closed in positive territory and continued to stretch higher toward 1.4400 during Asian trading hours on Thursday. Later in the day, Statistics Canada will publish Retail Sales figures for November.

The data from Japan showed on Thursday that exports rose by 2.8% on a yearly basis in December, while imports expanded by 1.8% in the same period.

Early Friday, the Bank of Japan will announce monetary policy decisions and markets foresee a 25 basis points rate increase. Ahead of this key event, USDJPY trades in a tight range at around 156.50.

EURUSD continues to move up and down in a narrow channel slightly above 1.0400 after closing marginally lower on Wednesday.

GBPUSD corrected lower on Wednesday, but managed to stabilise above 1.2300. The pair was last seen trading flat on the day at around 1.2315.

Gold closed in positive territory for the third consecutive day on Wednesday and touched its highest level since late October above $2,760.

XAUUSD stays in a consolidation phase early Thursday and trades slightly above $2,750.

(Source: OANDA)