Forex Marketz Daily Forex News – Fully Markets Update
The U.S. dollar, the world’s most liquid currency, gained ground across the board against most of its Forex partners. Currency traders were fleeing into safety as the price of the U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil futures contract continued to crater. The global demand for oil is simply not there.
However against the safe haven Japanese yen, the dollar lost ground. The headline USD/JPY Forex market was down 0.2 percent to trade at 107.40 yen at last glance.
The benchmark U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil futures contract continues to remain under heavy selling pressure. However, during the morning hours of the Asian trade session, the contract clawed its way higher into the green. For the first time in history, on Monday, this contract was in the negative.
Dollar Traders watch the Demand for Oil Fall
The supply of oil is rising around the world as demand for crude and its derivatives has evaporated thanks to the Covid-19 pandemic. Overnight, towards the end of the North American trade session, the WTI contract was trading at -$2.51 per barrel. It was down to minus $40 at one point during the day.
Global factory closures and restrictions on travel to contain the pandemic has triggered this collapse in the black gold. This has also hit commodity currencies that have large exposure to oil as the demand for diesel, jet fuel and other crude derivatives continues to plummet.
Commodity Currencies Fall at the Expense of the U.S. Dollar
Oil linked Forex assets like the Norwegian krone and Canadian dollar have been hit hard this week. The Swedish krona, which is a sentiment linked currency, has also come under pressure.
The USD/NOK currency exchange rate was last up 0.7 percent to trade at 10.51. The USD/CAD Forex market was up 0.4 percent to fetch 1.4211. This is close to a two week low price point.
The benchmark EUR/USD currency exchange rate was last down 0.3 percent to trade at 1.0833.
