The Chinese yuan is trading relatively flat against a myriad of currency rivals midweek as the nation’s virus outbreak has triggered economic growth concerns. After last week’s better-than-expected gross domestic product (GDP) figures and the International Monetary Fund (IMF)’s optimistic forecast, the spread of the Wuhan coronavirus could throw a wrench into the country’s plans to rebound from its slump.
The euro today struggled to rally against the US dollar as the World Economic Forum drags on in Davos, Switzerland. The EUR/USD currency pair today fell to new 2020 lows before recouping its losses as investors grappled with the emerging risk posed by the Coronavirus.
The Japanese yen is mixed on Tuesday after the central bank announced that it was leaving interest rates unchanged and raising its economic growth forecasts for 2020 and 2021. Tokyo also reported disappointing industrial production and capacity utilization data, despite the federal government spending billions in stimulus.
The Chinese yuan is strengthening against most major currency rivals to close out the trading week, driven by a better-than-expected reading of the world’s second-largest economy in the fourth quarter. But the various economic reports on Friday highlighted across-the-board improvements, which could signal that Beijing may be on track for a rebound in 2020, especially with the US and China declaring a trade truce.
The New Zealand dollar rallied intraday despite underwhelming domestic macroeconomic data. One of the possible reasons for the rally was macroeconomic data in China, which showed that the economic growth of the Asian nation stabilized in the last quarter of 2019. Currently, though, the New Zealand currency has lost its gains versus most rivals, except for European majors. The kiwi was trading about flat against the euro and the Great Britain pound.
The euro today rallied higher against the US dollar driven by upbeat investor risk sentiment in anticipation of the US-China phase one trade deal signing later today. The EUR/USD currency pair’s rally was also spurred by investor expectations that the European Central Bank could turn hawkish in the medium-term after a strategic review.
The Mexican peso slipped against multiple currency rivals to kick off the trading week as weak industrial output, fixed investment, and consumer confidence impacted the currency. Despite the disappointing numbers, the central bank anticipates the economy to record a strong first quarter. Is this enough to lift the peso?
The euro today traded sideways against the US dollar as the selling pressure abated as investors reacted to the calming of tensions between the US and Iran. The EUR/USD currency pair today attempted to rally unsuccessfully and was mostly stuck in slightly negative territory for most of today’s session despite upbeat German industrial data.
The Chinese yuan is mixed at the end of the trading week as final data of 2019 and outlook for 2020 drive the currency’s trading performance. With industrial profits rebounding in November, analysts are holding out hope that next year could be an improvement now that there is some certainty on the trade file.
The Japanese yen today traded in a tight range against the US dollar despite the greenback’s overall weakness against other major currencies. The USD/JPY traded sideways even as the Nikkei 225 equity index closed lower for the day despite the risk-on market sentiment.
