Home Daily Commentaries The Greenback does not have a clear direction this week following the outbreak of the Coronavirus.

The Greenback does not have a clear direction this week following the outbreak of the Coronavirus.

Daily Currency Update

USD - United States DollarThe Greenback is trading flat this morning because the U.S. economic data calendar for today is almost empty. However, later today, a few data point releases are anticipated including the December new home sales and January Dallas Fed manufacturing activity index. The most critical release this week will be the FOMC rate decision on Wednesday. The U.S. dollar has not changed much over the last few hours. The EUR/USD pair fell to 1.1015 following a sluggish and weak German IFO survey, but it has made an intraday high of 1.1038. The only currencies that are doing better than the Greenback are the Yen and Swiss Franc, which are beating the USD by 0.33 and 0.29, respectively.

Key Movers

Because of the Coronavirus, the USD/JPY pair is falling 0.33 percent this morning, trading at 108.91 at the moment. The Japanese Yen, the most popular “haven” currency, already increased versus the Aussie dollar, the Euro, and the U.S dollar this morning. The risk that market participants are not talking about is the implications of the Coronavirus on China and global growth. For now, the USD/CNH pair could especially be pressured to the upside (with the CNH -Chinese Yuan- going lower). Last Saturday, Chinese president Xi Jinping already expressed public worries about the risk of an accelerated spread of the illness. Cases have been reported in more than 12 countries so far and counting. The Aussie dollar is paying for the consequences of the Coronavirus because of geographical reasons. The AUD/USD pair is falling 0.86 percent at the time of this writing, trading at 0.6773.

Expected Ranges

  • USD/CAD: 1.3150 - 1.3200 ▲
  • EUR/USD: 1.1005 - 1.1055 ▼
  • GBP/USD: 1.3050 - 1.3083 ▼
  • AUD/USD: 0.6750 - 0.6817 ▼
  • NZD/USD: 0.6550 - 0.6584 ▼