The British pound was seen trading volatile as the currency pair gave up the gains intraday. This came after news reports emerged that the UK and the EU talks turned inconclusive. The British PM May was in Brussels yesterday to meet with Juncker and discuss the Brexit bill and the Irish border.
In the U.S. the passage of the tax reforms bills boosted the Greenback. Investors expect that the tax cuts will help the U.S. economy while also increase the pace of rate hikes. The news helped stall a three day decline in the U.S. dollar.
On the economic front, the U.S. factory orders showed a 0.1% decline on the month. This was slightly better than the 0.3% decline that was forecast. Previous month’s revised data showed an increase of 1.7%. In the UK, the construction PMI was better as data showed an increase to 53.1 beating forecasts of 51.2 and up from 50.8 previously.
Looking ahead, the economic data today will see the UK’s services PMI and the non-manufacturing PMI from ISM. Earlier in the day, the RBA’s monetary policy meeting showed interest rates staying unchanged at 1.50%.
