The Sterling pound fell against the dollar fueled by the upbeat UK Q4 GDP data released in the early London market as the greenback remained largely weak. The GBP/USD currency pair also benefitted from the elevated investor risk appetite that drove riskier currencies and assets higher at the dollar’s expense.
The Japanese yen was extremely weak today. In fact, it was the weakest currency on the Forex market during early Friday’s trading. The yen fell even against the otherwise weak New Zealand dollar. That said, the yen has been trying to beat the Swiss franc and the New Zealand dollar at the time of writing, rising closer to the opening level from time to time.
Markets started Thursday’s trading session in a positive mood. The Swiss franc, being considered a safer currency, was soft as a result of that. But currently, the Swissie has managed to gain against almost all of its most-traded peers. It also erased losses versus the Australian dollar, which had been the strongest currency on the Forex market during the early Thursday trading.
The Australian dollar rallied sharply during the past trading week, ending trading as the strongest most-traded currency on the Forex market. Other commodity currencies joined the rally, while safer currencies were left in the dust.
The Swiss franc was among the weakest among major currencies on the Forex market today, along with the US dollar and the Japanese yen — other currencies considered to be safe. That suggests that risk appetite has been driving markets on Friday.
The Japanese yen was very weak today, demonstrating significant losses against all other most-traded currencies. Analysts explained the weakness by the market sentiment that was favorable to riskier currencies. Japan’s better-than-expected macroeconomic reports added to the traders’ optimism.
The New Zealand dollar performed the same way as its Australian counterpart today: rising initially but retreating later. That is despite the supportive market sentiment and positive domestic macroeconomic data.
Today, the euro fell against the dollar due to the elevated demand for the safe-haven greenback as investors remained hopeful about the potential $1.9 trillion US stimulus package. The EUR/USD currency pair later reversed course and headed higher as market sentiment shifted in favour of riskier assets causing the dollar to tank against its peers.
The Canadian dollar today rallied against its much weaker US counterpart buoyed by rising crude oil prices and the elevated investor risk appetite. The USD/CAD currency pair fell to new lows despite the latest Canadian jobs data missing consensus estimates by a wider margin than US data.
The Sterling pound today fell against the much stronger dollar in the first half of the day’s session driven by the predominantly risk-off market sentiment. The GBP/USD currency pair recouped all its losses and turned positive after the Bank of England announced its hawkish interest rate decision.
