Market update at 12:35 GMT: In FX, GBP was by far the weakest major currency while haven CHF was the strongest. Stocks were mostly in the red in Europe, although off lows, while Italian shares bucked the trend with the FTSE MIB being the sole major index in the green. Crude oil was up for the 4th straight day.
Metals, including gold, silver and copper, all edged higher. Bitcoin (BitfinexUSD) was lower.
GBP was hit by a double whammy of bad news this morning. Reports emerged that the UK government wanted to block the EU transition extension beyond 2020 which raised concerns that this could potentially result in a hard Brexit. Then, the latest wages data came in below expectations at 3.2% 3m/y vs. 3.4% expected, while unemployment claims grew more than anticipated to 28,800 vs. 21,200. GBP/USD was testing this key support level.
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