US stocks soared yesterday as traders cheered reports that China was lowering tariffs on hundreds of goods. This is set to increase trade in the world’s biggest economy and reduce the trade tensions that have been going on for two years. Boeing was a top mover as the company removed its CEO, Dennis Muilenburg. The company has been going through challenges after the two accidents. These challenges have seen it halt the production of 737-Max, its best-selling aircraft. Another big winner was Tesla, the electric car manufacturer. The company’s stock tested the important resistance level of $420.

Asian stocks were mixed as volume of trading remained light. In China, the Shanghai and China A50 indices rose by 8 and 27 points respectively. The Hang Seng declined by 53 points while the Nikkei dropped by 4 points. The biggest news from Asia was from the Bank of Japan, which released the minutes for the monetary policy meeting held in October. The minutes showed that officials were optimistic of a trade deal between the US and China. They were also optimistic about the stabilizing of the European Union. They left rates unchanged. They also left rates unchanged during the November and December meetings.

The markets will have light volume today, with most of them closing early. Some big markets will also be closed today. In addition, there will be no major economic data released. In the United States, the Census Bureau will release the durable goods orders excluding defense. This data will come a day after the bureau released weak headline durable goods orders data. The Richmond Fed will release the manufacturing index for November.

EUR/USD

The EUR/USD pair was relatively unchanged during the Asian session. The pair is trading at 1.1088, which is slightly above Friday’s low of 1.1066 and slightly below yesterday’s high of 1.1095. The pair is trading along the 14-day and 28-day moving averages. The RSI has been moving upwards while the Parabolic SAR is below the price. The pair may continue to consolidate on low volumes.

GBP/USD

The GBP/USD pair was relatively unchanged during the Asian session. The pair is trading at 1.2942, which is close to the lowest level since December 3. The price is below where it was trading Friday. It is also below the 14-day and 28-day moving averages while the RSI has moved to the oversold level. The momentum indicator has been moving higher. As with the EUR/USD pair, the GBP/USD pair will likely see minimal movements today.

USD/JPY

The USD/JPY pair was unchanged after the BOJ released the minutes of the October meeting. The pair is trading at 109.38. This is between the 109.17 and 109.68 channel that has been forming this month. The pair has also formed a symmetrical triangle pattern. This means that there could be a breakout in either direction in the coming days.