Market Update - May 23, 2017

US politics dominate the market. Details of the Trump Administration's budget were posted on 22 May and are scheduled to be officially released today. The USD3.6trn of planned cuts look highly ambitious and likely to be rejected by Congress, according to Bloomberg. Meanwhile, the Washington Post has reported on alleged requests by President Trump to two top intelligence officials for them to publicly deny the existence of any evidence of collusion during the 2016 election. Such distractions may be seen as negatives for the USD as they may take away the Administration's focus from pushing the economic agenda, particularly tax reform. USD opening on a softer footing to start the week. EUR continues to push higher. Stronger EU PMI data underpins this am. Oil is choppy but opening modestly weaker on the back of possible stockpile sales out of the US.