* Donald Trump became the third U.S. president to get impeached by the House of Representatives, but the move had surprisingly little impact on the dollar.
* Traders are now anticipating comments from the Bank of England and Bank of Japan coming out later today.
Trump Impeached
U.S. President Donald Trump became the third U.S. president to get impeached when the House of Representatives voted on Wednesday against Trump in two articles. The vote will now move to the Republican-controlled Senate, where it is unlikely that Trump will get convicted and removed from office. The vote came after a three-month inquiry related to Trump’s dealings with Ukraine.
The impeachment proceedings are far from over, which may be why the markets had little reaction to the news. The next step is for House Democrats to choose impeachment managers who will present their findings to the Senate. Then the trial will proceed in the Senate, and will most likely be presided over by Chief Justice John Roberts, as was the precedent set during the last impeachment hearings, for then-president Bill Clinton. The Senate vote is expected to take place in January 2020.
The dollar index was down a modest 0.06 percent as of 2:29 p.m. HK/SIN to 97.35. The greenback was slightly higher against the yen, up 0.05 percent to 109.58. It was lower against the British pound which ticked upwards after two days of heavy losses. The pound was up 0.05 percent against the greenback to $1.3082. The euro was up 0.14 percent against the dollar, trading at $1.1127.
Asian Benchmarks Continue Downtrend
Following a day of losses on Wednesday, Asian benchmarks remained in their downward spiral on Thursday.
The Nikkei 225 was down 0.29 percent in its third consecutive day of losses. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index was down 0.46 percent in the mid-afternoon in Asia. China’s Shanghai Composite was down for the second consecutive day, easing 0.02 percent after starting the week with two consecutive days of gains. The Shenzhen Composite did manage to eke out gains, trading up 0.24 percent and reversing its two-day downtrend.
Low volatility is expected in the coming days as traders prepare for the end-of-year holidays and sit to the side as they await upcoming central bank announcements. Later today the Bank of Japan and the Bank of England will be releasing their monthly policy notes, though both banks are expected to keep monetary policy unchanged.