Home Daily Commentaries Vaccine optimism pushes dollar down

Vaccine optimism pushes dollar down

Daily Currency Update

USD - United States DollarThe US dollar traded lower against the Canadian dollar, British pound and the euro surrounding the progress of the COVID-19 vaccine.As has become the common pattern, a drug company announced progress in its vaccine development and currency markets dropped while equity markets bounded up. This time, Moderna Therapeutics announced that it had completed trial enrollment for a phase 2 study. The company said that its on track to launch phase 3 in July and deliver 1 billion doses in the beginning for 2021. US equity markets climbed while the US dollar lowered this morning.In actual economic news, US Crude Oil inventories were nearly double the forecast. Watchers expected 3.2 million barrels, but with 5.7 million barrels in inventory imbalances in the market will lead toward a shift in production and price volatility.The US dollar is down 0.6% against the Canadian dollar, 0.7% against the pound and 0.7% against the Euro.

Key Movers

The news of 191 new COVID-19 cases in Victoria yesterday led to the announcement of a 6-week lockdown in metro Melbourne and a closure of the Victoria-NSW Border by the Victorian government. The local currency, which was approaching the key 0.7000 handle at Asian open, was sold off nearly 60 points on the news to trade closer to 0.6930. As expected, the RBA maintained their monetary policy stance yesterday, holding the cash rate at 0.25% and delivered nothing of impact to markets.

Expected Ranges

  • USD/CAD: 1.353 - 1.362 ▼
  • EUR/USD: 1.126 - 1.134 ▼
  • GBP/USD: 1.251 - 1.26 ▼
  • USD/AUD: 1.433 - 1.443 ▼