Forex Marketz Daily Forex News – Fully Markets Update
Trade volume in the Asian and Pacific Rim financial markets is thin this morning as a number of indices are closed for the Lunar New Year Holidays.
Asian traders and market participants are growing increasingly worried over the outbreak on spread of the coronavirus as thousands have been infected worldwide and over 80 are confirmed dead.
Traders are worried that this outbreak will be another knock against global economic growth as travel is curtailed to stop the spread of the virus. Preliminary economic data, out of China, is already indicating that this is the case.
The financial and equity markets in Australia, China, Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea, and Taiwan are all closed on Monday for public holidays.
The Asian benchmark, in Japan, the Nikkei 225 was down over two percent by lunchtime. The headline bourse has pared back some losses and is currently down nearly 1.7 percent. In Tokyo, the broader Topix index shed nearly 1.8 percent.
Asian Currency Markets Quiet, the Safe Haven Yen Gains Ground
In the Forex universe, the Japanese yen, a safe haven currency, was trading at 108.79 yen against the dollar. This is stronger from the 110 yen handle seen the previous week as traders searched for safe haven safety.
The dollar index, which measures the greenback against six other currency units, was also trading higher. The index moved up from 97.783 to 97.826.
U.S. market futures are pointing to a lower open when Wall Street opens later today. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) are currently down 300 points.
The Deadly Coronavirus continues to Spread around the World
So far, over 2,000 people have been infected. Most of these cases are in China as the new respiratory continues to spread. There are also confirmed cases in the United States and in other countries. Over eighty people have died.
The spread of the virus is already, according to preliminary economic data, impacting the world’s second largest economy.
