Last week of 2022 trading with bullish start

Welcome to the strangest week between Christmas and New Year’s Eve when many of us are clueless as to what day it is and the financial market is usually pretty quiet. Today’s calendar is rather empty, with markets in the UK and Canada still closed. The only data worth mentioning has already been published. Retail sales from Japan rose, but not as much as expected – 2.6% vs 3.8%. Housing Starts disappointed with a decline of -1.4%, too. This could be a contributing factor to Japanese Yen currently being the weakest currency on the market.

The strongest gains right now can be reported with the Australian and Canadian Dollars – our main commodity currencies. Does this mean that commodities are currently up? Indeed, it does, and especially metals. Copper is flying 2% higher, silver adds 1.8% and gold is 0.4% higher. Oil, on the other hand, does not start the week with such optimism. We may have had a high opening, but the beginning of the European session brought a small decline.

Indices start with a rise. This occurrence is pretty common and contributed to the Santa Rally (as it doesn’t have to happen before Christmas) and the Window Dressing. Most of the leading indices in Asia finished the session on the green side of the market and almost all European indices are bullish at the open. The leader can be seen in France, where CAC is climbing 1% higher. American Futures are also up. The pack is led by Nasdaq who is currently 0.9% higher.

As for media headlines, there are no eye-catching ones, which could heavily influence the price movements. This situation shall not change before the beginning of the new year, so traders expecting a thrill can take a small break until January 2.