The FX market will not return to full strength until January 7th although we should see some players back on board by mid next week. This reduced liquidity is leading to plenty of volatility.

Cable was a stand-out, rallying to 1.6200 in European trade before turning and collapsing 140 pips. The GBP also lost some ground overall against the EUR and as I mentioned yesterday in the technicals, the EUR/GBP cross could be one of the surprise movers in early 2013.

EUR/JPY traded to a high of 114.30 before dropping sharply by 90 pips. This might be a sign of some more profit taking to come and if you fancy picking a top in the Yen crosses, then maybe GBP/JPY is the pair to look at?

AUD/USD is consolidating its recent falls in a tight 1.0345/85 range.

The EUR is in demand overall as it is presently seen as a safer haven than either the USD or the JPY (which is a pretty poor reflection on those currencies).