Upside hopes for the GBP?
The British monthly GDP is announced on Friday at 09:00 MT time.
Market drivers on April 15
Let’s see what’s moving market today amid the coronavirus pandemic. Some countries are recovering such as China, but most of them are still under pressure.
Donald Trump sanctions WHO for poor performance
US President Donald Trump has stopped financing the World Health Organization. The main reason for that is the WHO hadn’t restricted travels from China in time, that undermined the US. Also, Donald Trump voiced his discontent that the WHO became very China-centric. However, House Democrats said that Donald Trump violated the law as he had no legal authority to halt payments to the WHO.
US dollar may weaken
On the one hand, the Fed’s monetary easing and credit backstops help to mitigate the coronavirus negative impact on the economy. On the other hand, these measures put a heavy pressure on the US dollar. Later today we will see the report of retail sales that will show the economic damage of lockdowns. This report should somehow influence on the US dollar. Also, tomorrow on April 16 unemployment claims will be released. Some economists think that the jobless rate will reach 20%.
Good news for Pound sterling
There is a positive scenario for the British pound as the negative impact of Brexit has been eliminated by the coronavirus. According to Standard Bank, EUR/GBP will fall to 0.8 soon. The pound price couldn’t touch this level since 2016. As the deadline for a trade deal is postponed, the risk for the currency is pushing back too.
Oil price plummeted again
If you remember, OPEC+ after long negotiations had finally decided to cut the oil production. However, it didn’t help to push the oil price up. What we see today is the WTI oil price fell below $20 per barrel. That’s happened because the oil demand had dropped enormously. The International Energy Agency said that the worst is yet to come.
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Strong USD on Tuesday
The main market tendency today is that the US dollar is rising against its major peers and riskier assets such as stocks and oil are plummeting.
Will the USD grow with the US labor market?
The US unemployment claims are out on Thursday at 15:30 MT time.
Latest news
ECB report is in focus
The European Central Bank will publish the monetary policy statement with the interest rate decision on January 21, at 14:45 MT time.
Markets await Biden to unveil "trillions dollars"
Joe Biden is going to unveil a Covid-19 relief package of about $2 trillion. After this announcement, the 10-year Treasury yield rose, adding support for the USD.
USD came under selling pressure
The US dollar’s weakness offered a boost to emerging-market currencies and oil.
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