Before the NFP report, the dollar stands tall. Traders closely watch the fallout of China virus. For weekly decline, safe havens are heading. Versus the yen, the dollar traded near a two-week high. Ahead of crucial job data, there are upbeat United States economy indicators. Nevertheless, the spread of a new coronavirus in China remains a risk to the financial markets.
In foreign trade, the yuan held onto slim gains versus the dollar. It has hopes that Chinese stimulus will lessen the economic impact of the epidemic. Nevertheless, the rising death toll is keeping investors on edge.
Near a six-week low pound was trading against the dollar Pound nursed losses versus the euro. It is dogging by persistent worries about negotiations between the European Union and Britain for the post-Brexit trade deal.
There was a recent improvement in United States economic data. It has given some traders a respite from concerns about the new virus. Nevertheless, these concerns are most likely to loom large for weeks because investors assess the scale of the economic impact.
The United States and China
Masafumi Yamamoto is a chief currency strategist at Mizohu Securities in Tokyo. He said that there is a perception that the United States economy will be much less affected by the virus than China or other countries. That is why the dollar is gaining.
He adds that risk-off trades can take a break because they don’t know the actual state of China’s economy until we see data for February. A chief currency strategist at Mizohu Securities in Tokyo Masafumi Yamamoto says that there can be some declines in the numbers for China and other Asian countries.
On Friday, in Asia, the dollar traded at 109.97 yen. It was just below the two-week high hit earlier. The dollar was on course for a 1.5 percent increase versus the yen for the week. It would be its biggest weekly gain since July 2018.
It is leading news for today.
