Market Drivers – European Session 14-12-2021

The dollar rose in trading on Monday ahead of a series of central bank meetings this week including the US Federal Reserve, and investors are looking forward to how quickly to end bond buying and hints about when interest rate hikes will begin in 2022.

The euro fell, as it is seen as threatened by a possible rate hike in the US amid expectations that the Federal Reserve will tighten policy faster than the conservative European Central Bank.

The dollar index, which measures the greenback against six major currencies, rose 0.25% to 96.25. The euro fell 0.4% to $1.1268.

In its monthly oil market report, the International Energy Agency (IEA) revised down oil demand outlook by around 100,000 bpd for both 2021 and 2022, citing the emergence of the Omicron variant as the cause of the dent in global oil demand.

According to a report by the IMF, UK GDP is expected to grow 6.8% in 2021, followed by 5.0% in 2022. The international financing institution said it sees inflation in the UK peaking at about 5.5% in spring 2022 in the UK. The IMF added that, due to recently imposed curbs to contain the spread of Omicron, a small slowdown is expected in UK growth in Q1 2022.