Forex Today: Dollar sheds ground as traders prepare year-end books

What you need to know on Thursday, December 30:

The dollar seesawed between gains and losses, up during the European session, later down through US trading hours. As traders prepare to close their yearly books, major pairs saw some action for the first time this week.

The EUR/USD pair fell to 1.1279 and then bounced to 1.1368, staying between the monthly extremes. The Pound rallied, with GBP/USD touching 1.3499 before giving up some ground.

Commodity-linked currencies are also up against the dollar, with AUD/USD trading at around 0.7250 and USD/CAD hovering around 1.2800. The USD/JPY pair is currently pressuring the 115.00 level.

Spot gold plummeted to $1,789.38 a troy ounce but managed to recover later in the day, to settle around $1,804.

Crude oil prices surged to fresh monthly highs following encouraging stockpiles-related news. The API report posted a draw of 3.09 million barrels, while the EIA informed that US crude inventories fell by around 3.6 million in the week ended December 24.

European and Asian indexes closed in the red, but Wall Street managed to post some tepid gains. Government bond yields rallied, with that on the 10-year Treasury note hitting 1.55%.

The number of coronavirus contagions in Europe and the US keeps reaching record highs on the daily basis, posing a risk to economic progress.

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