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The US Dollar was sharply lower on Tuesday as risk from political instability in Greece and new restrictions on China’s debt markets triggered a meltdown in equities which spread to other asset classes. The US Dollar tumbled and global equity markets sold off following a surprise decision by the Greek government to bring forward a parliamentary vote for president to next week, a move which could trigger early elections if Prime Minister Antonis Samaras’ candidate is not chosen. Market sentiment was also hard hit by a Chinese government decision to set new restrictions on collateral for short-term loans. The decision fuelled fears that China’s economy is slowing at a faster rate than anticipated. Chinese shares plunged on Tuesday, sharply reversing course from a two-week rally fuelled in part by speculation the Chinese central bank would further ease policy, with the Shanghai Composite Index recording its biggest fall since the depths of the global financial crisis. Volatility also gripped the currency markets, where the Chinese Yuan posted its biggest one-day decline against the US Dollar since 2008 on talk of a possible cut in banks' reserve requirements by the central bank - which could flood the market with Renminbi and so dilute its value versus the US Dollar. The gyrations follow the People's Bank of China's surprise November interest rate cut in response to a steady drumbeat of weak economic data. Recent months have seen weaker-than-expected trade data, signs of looming deflation and a housing market - a major internal driver of growth - that has failed to pick up despite easing of administrative restrictions. The recent sharp rally in the stock market indicates that money freed from the PBOC's recent rate cut has not flowed in to the real economy, and that is worrying regulators. The Shanghai Composite Index started the day rising to a 3 1/2 year high, before collapsing in the afternoon to lose more than 5 percent, the biggest single-day percentage drop since 2009, as investors took profits in sectors such as banking and property. Stock markets in Europe were also sharply lower, with Germany’s DAX dropping 1.5%, while Spain's IBEX 100 and Italy's FTSE MIB both lost nearly 2%. The S&P 500 ended nearly flat on Tuesday as it managed to erase a 1.3 percent decline from earlier in the day, moving more than 26 points to its high of the day from its low. Greece unnerved financial markets after the Greek government brought a presidential vote forward in a political gamble that raised uncertainty over the country's transition out of its bailout. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 51.28 points, or 0.29 percent, to 17,801.2, the S&P 500 lost 0.49 points, or 0.02 percent, to 2,059.82 while the NASDAQ Composite Index added 25.77 points, or 0.54 percent, to 4,766.47. Adding to the cautious tone was uncertainty over whether the U.S. Federal Reserve will change its pledge to keep rates near zero for a "considerable time" when policymakers meet next week. Demand for the US Dollar looked likely to remain supported by the diverging monetary policy stance between the Federal Reserve and central banks in Japan and Europe.Last week’s strong U.S. jobs report for November prompted traders to bring forward expectations for the first hike in interest rates to mid-2015 from September 2015 ahead of the report The US Dollar received a boost earlier Tuesday after the Wall Street Journal reported that Fed officials are looking at dropping an assurance that interest rates will stay low for a "considerable time", in its statement, following its upcoming policy meeting next week. EUR-USD rebounded 0.846 to 1.23729, recovering from Monday’s two year trough of 1.2246. USD-JPY fellto 117.928 before recovering to close at 119.692, off its 7-year peaks of 121.838 struck on Monday. Sterling pushed higher, withGBP-USD up 0.09% to 1.56644 from a high of 1.57162. Gains were held in check after data showing U.K. industrial output unexpectedly fell in October, pulled down by a steep drop in manufacturing.Industrial production fell 0.1% in October as manufacturing output fell 0.7%, the largest monthly decline since May. Commodity currencies rose but could not hold on to gains withAUD-USD closing almost unchanged at 0.82902. Earlier in Asia trading, the pair fell to a4-year lows of 0.82224. NZD-USDjumped 0.27% to 0.76743, while USD-CADwas down 0.29% to 1.14423 after rising to more than 5-year highs of 1.14992 earlier. Gold prices extended gains to hit the highest level in nearly 6-weeks on Tuesday, as a broadly weaker U.S. Dollar and losses in global equity markets boosted the safe-haven appeal of the precious metal. On the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, gold futures for February delivery rose by as much as 2.23% to touch a daily high of $1,222.20, the most since October 29, before trading at $1,218.40 during U.S. morning hours, up $23.10, or 1.94%. The day before, gold picked up $4.50, or 0.38%, to settle at $1,194.90. In the spot market gold rose $27.79 to end the New York session at 1230.92/oz. Dollar weakness usually benefits gold, as it boosts the metal's appeal as an alternative asset and makes dollar-priced commodities cheaper for holders of other currencies. Brent crude oil rebounded to settle up 1 percent after hitting a fresh five-year low of $65.29. Oil prices have been under pressure as the US Dollar strengthened and OPEC decided against an output cut, with Brent down more than 40 percent from its June high.
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