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Wells Fargo Research Team Wells Fargo

Economics group

Weekly economic & financial commentary

The re-opening of the country is getting underway, with all 50 states starting to roll back restrictions.
It remains too early to assess the effect of the re-opening on coronavirus case growth, which continues to slow in a fairly broad-based manner, despite an impressive—albeit late-inthe-game—ramp-up in testing.
Nearly 2.5 million Americans filed initial unemployment claims the week ended May 16, bringing the cumulative total over the past nine weeks to more than 38 million.

Global review

U.S.-China Tensions Building; EM Central Banks Easing

Along with the intensification of COVID-19, U.S.-China relations have started to intensify again as well. Heightened rhetoric from the U.S. administration has recently turned to action, and while we are not yet ready to build any material escalations or additional tariffs into our forecasts, we acknowledge U.S.-China trade tensions could be deteriorating.
Multiple central banks in emerging markets met this week to assess monetary policy with rate cuts occurring across Asia and EMEA. With inflation on a downward trajectory, additional monetary policy space to cut rates has been created and as of now, we believe EM central banks will continue to ease policy.

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Wells Fargo Research Team

Wells Fargo

EUR/USD hits two-day highs near 1.1820

EUR/USD picks up pace and reaches two-day tops around 1.1820 at the end of the week. The pair’s move higher comes on the back of renewed weakness in the US Dollar amid growing talk that the Fed could deliver an interest rate cut as early as March. On the docket, the flash US Consumer Sentiment improves to 57.3 in February.

GBP/USD reclaims 1.3600 and above

GBP/USD reverses two straight days of losses, surpassing the key 1.3600 yardstick on Friday. Cable’s rebound comes as the Greenback slips away from two-week highs in response to some profit-taking mood and speculation of Fed rate cuts. In addition, hawkish comments from the BoE’s Pill are also collaborating with the quid’s improvement.

Gold climbs further, focus is back to 45,000

Gold regains upside traction and surpasses the $4,900 mark per troy ounce at the end of the week, shifting its attention to the critical $5,000 region. The move reflects a shift in risk sentiment, driving flows back towards traditional safe haven assets and supporting the yellow metal.

Crypto Today: Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP rebound amid risk-off, $2.6 billion liquidation wave

Bitcoin edges up above $65,000 at the time of writing on Friday, as dust from the recent macro-triggered sell-off settles. The leading altcoin, Ethereum, hovers above $1,900, but resistance at $2,000 caps the upside. Meanwhile, Ripple has recorded the largest intraday jump among the three assets, up over 10% to $1.35.

Three scenarios for Japanese Yen ahead of snap election

The latest polls point to a dominant win for the ruling bloc at the upcoming Japanese snap election. The larger Sanae Takaichi’s mandate, the more investors fear faster implementation of tax cuts and spending plans.

XRP rally extends as modest ETF inflows support recovery

Ripple is accelerating its recovery, trading above $1.36 at the time of writing on Friday, as investors adjust their positions following a turbulent week in the broader crypto market. The remittance token is up over 21% from its intraday low of $1.12.