Forex Today: Progress on US fiscal stimulus

Here is what you need to know on Wednesday, August 19:

 The dollar extended remained under selling pressure, without a fresh catalyst triggering the latest decline. European currencies were the most benefited from the dollar’s slump, as commodity-linked ones were undermined by the poor performance of Wall Street. The S&P reached an intraday all-time high but retreated from the level. Indexes closed mixed, with the NASDAQ still being the best performer.

EU-UK trade talks resumed this Tuesday. Ahead of the meeting in Brussels, news indicated that British negotiators would not accept any deal that ‘constrains’ the UK to the EU’s rules and infringes sovereignty, somehow hinting another round of failed talks. At the same time, EU representatives suggested that talks could be unlocked if the UK maintains the bloc’s laws on tax breaks and state subsidies as part of the “level-playing field.” Talks are set to conclude on Friday.

Mid-US afternoon, news headlines showed that Democrats are will to cut their demands in the COVID-19 relief to reach an agreement, US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told Politico in an online interview. "We have to try to come to that agreement now," Pelosi said, as reported by Reuters. "We're willing to cut our bill in half to meet the needs right now. We'll take it up again in January. We'll see them again in January. But for now, we can cut the bill in half."

Gold retook the 2,000 threshold. The bright metal has continued to recover on the back of the dollar’s weakness. Crude oil prices, on the other hand, remained stable weighed by the sour tone of equities.

Bitcoin and Gold short-lived correlation not a sign of comparability