Forex Marketz Daily Forex News – Fully Markets Update
The U.S. dollar (USD) was pressured against commodity currencies after a surge in oil prices. The Norwegian krone as well as the Canadian dollar (NOK, CAD) both outperformed against the greenback as trader sentiment improved.
Currency traders are monitoring Covid-19 headlines of a possible cure in the pipeline. The U.S. based pharmaceutical company, Moderna, reported that they have had positive results with a phase one trial into a Covid-19 vaccine. Various countries around the world are starting to reopen their economies, as well.
This pushed the crude oil futures contracts higher, which supported commodity currencies.
There are some concerns as political tensions between the United States, European Union and China remain elevated over China’s handling of the global pandemic.
The Norwegian krone gained against the U.S. dollar as oil prices were boosted on hopes of increased demand for the black gold. The USD/NOK Forex market was down, overnight, one percent to trade at 10.0821.
The USD/CAD Forex market was up 0.52 percent to trade at 1.4036. Other commodity assets also gained at the expense of the greenback.
The dollar index, which gained 0.6 percent last week, fell 0.12 percent overnight to trade at 100.25.
Comments from the Fed Chair weaken the Dollar
Over the weekend, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell gave a television interview to CBS. He said that the central bank will continue to employ non-standard monetary policy tools and could also print more money to further insulate against the economic blow from the Covid-19 virus.
The rise in sentiment also sent global equities higher and supported sentiment linked currencies like Ozzie. The AUD/USD Forex market tacked on half a percent. The EUR/USD currency exchange rate, however, fell as the euro remains pressured.
The USD/JPY Forex market was down 0.25 percent to trade at 107.30 yen. Economic data showed that Japan has fallen into a recession for the first time since 2015. Japan is bracing for their largest economic contraction since the Second World War.
