Investors are in a wait-and-see mode ahead of the Trump-Biden first presidential debate in Cleveland, five weeks before the election.
Investors will be looking for a steer on the candidates’ prospects at the 90-minute televised debate at 9 p.m. ET (0100 GMT).
Among others, the agenda of the Trump-Biden first presidential debate includes the pandemic, the Supreme Court and the nation’s reckoning on race. Although the presidential debate is not strictly an economic event any unexpected development or cancellation would roil markets.
More than 1 million people have now died of the COVID-19 around the world as of Tuesday. Countries around the world announce several new restrictions to slow a second wave.
In other news, markets are also waiting for developments over the U.S. lawmakers’ efforts to cobble together additional economic stimulus. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said on Monday the Democratic lawmakers were unveiling a new $2.2 trillion coronavirus relief bill, a compromise measure that reduces the costs of the economic aid.
In Brussels, the European Union and Britain kicked off a decisive week of talks which will last three days. Both the EU and Britain said a post-Brexit agreement was still some way off. However, the European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen said a deal was still possible. EU negotiators signalled that they are willing to begin work on a joint legal text of a trade agreement with the UK.
As Europe experiences a rise in COVID-19 infections, traders look out for eurozone consumer confidence and industrial sentiment data for September. Investors need to figure out for signs of any impact on the region’s economic recovery.
START TRADINGForex – Trump-Biden first presidential debate
Upcoming U.S. economic data should help show how well the country is positioned to rebound from pandemic lockdowns. U.S. consumer confidence data for September is due at 1400 GMT.
The dollar index dropped 0.3% from a two-month high, its biggest daily percentage drop in roughly three weeks.
The yen was steady against the dollar at 105.615 at 1055 GMT.
The risk-sensitive Australian dollar gained moderately. Economists pushed back expectations for a rate cut by the Reserve Bank of Australia to November from next week. The Aussie bounced off its two-month low to last trade at $0.7084, while the kiwi sat at $0.6568.
The New Zealand dollar was up 0.5% at 0.6583 recovering from sharp fall last week.
The euro was up 0.2% on the day at $1.1687.
The Swiss franc was steady against the euro at 1.0786.
The pound hit a one-week high on Tuesday despite a broadly steady dollar. Sterling was 0.3% higher at $1.2866 at 1115 GMT after hitting $1.2878 earlier in the trading session. The British currency was also 0.2% higher versus the euro at 91.04 pence.
Safe-haven spot gold was flat at around $1881 an ounce. U.S. gold futures gained 0.21% to $1,876.7 an ounce.
U.S. Brent crude slipped 16 cents to $42.27 a barrel while U.S. light crude was down 21 cents at $40.39 on demand worries.
PLEASE NOTE The information above is not investment advice.
Sources: Reuters, Investing, CNN money