The January barometer is the hypothesis that the financial market’s performance in January foretells their performance for the rest of the year. As the new year begins, investors worldwide will closely monitor currencies, indices and commodities in January in an effort to benefit from new and old trends, aiming for the trade of the year.

The euro (EUR) has strengthened against most of its major counterparts, after a deal was reached to stave off a "fiscal cliff" of sweeping taxation and spending cuts. The bill passed on Tuesday night following the house vote, where 172 Democrats and 85 Republicans voted in favour of it. This development has boosted risk appetite.