The US Dollar is gaining interest once again as a safe haven asset as concerns over the Coronavirus return after it had seemed that the spread was slowing in New York and Europe. However, the numbers released by the CDC offered little hope that the US economy might soon reopen for business as while one state's numbers might drop back, another state will then see a surge. The President had said earlier in the week that he believe that these two weeks would be the most painful for Americans, and many state governments are echoing that sentiment. Those fears have sent FX traders to the safe haven assets, including the greenback, which is also the global reserve currency, and to a lesser extent, the Japanese Yen and Swiss France.
As of 11:09 am in London trading, the EUR/USD was trading at $1.0864, a loss of 0.2241% and off the session low of $1.08296. The GBP/USD was trading at $1.2334, up 0.0162%; the pair has ranged from a trough of $1.22873 to a high of $$1.23552 in this session. The USD/JPY was higher at 108.8470 Yen, a gain of 0.08% and off the session peak of 109.008 Yen.
A Look Ahead to Thursday Fundamentals
With little in the way of market moving events occurring today, the focus will shift to Thursday beginning with a speech from the Bank of Japan's Haruhiko Kuroda, who will undoubtedly discuss the central bank's efforts to alleviate some of the stresses to the Japanese economy. Later in the day, the UK's Office of National Statistics will release data on GDP, as well as manufacturing and industrial production for the month of February. Finally, among other data, the US Labor Department will be releasing its weekly jobless claim figures; analysts are forecasting a slowdown in initial claims and a surge in continuing claims.