House Republicans Vote In Favour Of Tax Reform

 | Nov 17, 2017 14:34

Yesterday, the US House voted in favour of the Republican tax reform bill via a 227-205 vote. The vote marks a significant step towards finalising the highly-anticipated tax overhaul of the Trump administration. Now, the Senate has to vote for its own version of the tax bill, something anticipated taking place after the Thanksgiving holiday (November 23rd). However, the upcoming Senate vote may be much trickier than the House one. Republicans only hold a 2-seat majority in the Senate, while some Republican Senators have already voiced concerns and hesitation about the tax bill in its current form, mainly due to the projected increase in the nation’s deficit.

Even though US equity indices rebounded after the House vote yesterday, the dollar actually moved a little lower throughout the Asian session Friday. The move has been attributed to a WSJ report that special investigator Robert Mueller issued a subpoena last month to more than a dozen top officials in the Trump campaign. According to the report, the subpoena ordered the campaign officials to turn over requested documents and emails that reference a set of Russia-related keywords. Although this shouldn’t be particularly shocking, given that everyone knows the Mueller investigation is still ongoing, it may have served as a reminder to the market that political uncertainty in the US has not diminished yet.

EUR/USD traded somewhat lower on Thursday but hit support at 1.1760 (S1) and during the Asian morning Thursday it rebounded. The rate continues to trade within the range between 1.1660 (S3) and 1.1830 (R1) and thus, we stick to our guns that the outlook is flat for now. A clear close above 1.1830 (R1) is needed to make us confident that the slide started on the 8th of September was just a corrective phase and that the picture is back to positive. On the downside, we need to see a clear close below 1.1660 (S3) before we start examining the case for larger bearish extensions.

h3 EUR/USD