【TOP1 Evening】Gold trades flat, Silver falls 1%; Dollar decline stalls
Sterling slips below $1.34 as Brexit trade deal doubts emerge; Fed economists warn of debt overhang problem from COVID-19 crisis, the dollar may continue its decline!

Gold
Gold eased on Wednesday, as doubts over the progress of a U.S. stimulus package made investors cautious, with further pressure added by reports of developments on a COVID-19 vaccine.
Spot gold rose 0.73% to $1827.72 per ounce by 19:30 (GMT+8).
Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin and House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi held stimulus talks on Tuesday for the first time since the U.S. elections.
A bipartisan group of senators and House members proposed coronavirus relief measures worth $908 billion.
The U.K. has become the first Western nation to approve a Covid-19 vaccine, a landmark moment in the coronavirus pandemic that paves the way for the first doses to be rolled out across the country next week.
Weighing further on bullion was news that U.S. officials target mid-December to kick off vaccinations for millions of Americans against COVID-19.
"Investors took the opportunity of buying the metal at a lower price to hedge against lower interest rates and a possibility of higher inflation." said I.G. Markets analyst Kyle Rodda.
Elsewhere, by 19:30 (GMT+8), Silver rose 0.57% to $24.098 per ounce,
Forex
The dollar stayed near a 2-1/2-year low on Wednesday as investors assessed the likelihood of further fiscal stimulus in the United States, while riskier currencies held onto gains as investor confidence improved.
At 19:30 (GMT+8), the U.S. dollar index was up 0.23% to 91.39.
Sterling dipped below $1.34 as doubts resurfaced over whether Britain can seal a post-Brexit trade deal with the European Union, offsetting any optimism from becoming the world's first country to approve the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine.
GBP/USD fell more than 0.4% to $1.3369.
At 19:30 (GMT+8), the EUR/USD fell 0.19% to 1.20485; the AUD/USD rose 0.06% to 0.73762; theUSD/JPY rose 0.41% to 104.722.
The Covid-19 crisis could be worse than the Great Recession for companies that had high levels of indebtedness at the start of the outbreak, according to economists at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
Many of America's most iconic companies -- from Boeing Co., Carnival Corp. and Delta Air Lines Inc. to Exxon Mobil Corp. and Macy's Inc. -- aren't earning enough to cover their interest expenses after borrowing billions of dollars over the past few months to help get them through the coronavirus, according to a Bloomberg analysis.
Fragmented ownership of corporate debt may further increase the cost of the debt overhang during the fallout from the virus, while small companies that are over-levered may find it more difficult to take advantage of the bankruptcy process to ease their debt burden, the economists said.
Crude Oil
On Wednesday, oil prices gradually narrowed their decline after falling by more than 1%.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude was at $44.489 barrel, rose 0.26%, Brent was up to $47.342 a barrel, rose 0.38% by 19:00 (GMT+8).
Industry data from the American Petroleum Institute showed U.S. crude inventories rose by 4.1 million barrels last week, compared with analysts' expectations in a Reuters poll for a draw of 2.4 million barrels.
Oil price losses were capped by investor hopes of a vaccine to combat rising Covid-19 cases which could in turn revive fuel demand.
Stocks
Asia-Pacific stock mixed on Wednesday.
Nikkei 225 rose 13.44 points or 0.050%, close at 26,800.98.
S&P/ASX 200 rose 1.70 points or 0.026% to close at 6,590.20.
Hang Seng Index fell 226.19 or 0.86% to 26,567.68.
South Korea's KOSPI rose 41.65 points or 1.58% to 2,675.90.
Taiwan capitalization-weighted stock index rose 103.47 points, or 0.75%, at 13,989.14.
Analysts at Morgan Stanley instituted a number of ratings changes on U.S. large-cap banks Monday while still remaining largely bullish on the sector. Overall, an improving economy -- helped by the rollout of a Covid-19 vaccine -- should help bank stocks, which have struggled to recover from their March lows.
Focus Tonight
23:30 (GMT+8): United States EIA Cushing Crude Oil Stocks Change (27/NOV), Previous:-1.721M;
23: 00(GMT+8): Fed Chair Powell Testimony;
Bonus rebate to help investors grow in the trading world!