Breaking: WTI plummets on dying OPEC+ alliance

FXStreet Team FXStreet

The price of oil is in focus in for the start of this week with additional turmoil in the markets following the weekend updates surrounding the coronavirus, at the core of geopolitical and market havoc. WTI dropped to a low of $32.80.

Firstly, crude prices went into a tailspin on the news of the OPEC+ abolishing oil production restrictions. This follows Friday's updates and lack of consensus between Russie and Saudi Arabia proposing a cut to crude output. In what appears to be a retaliation aimed at Russia fr breaking the alliance, the Saudis are hatching plans to increase its oil output in April to 12 million barrels a day – a record amount – if need be. More on this here.

Coronavirus update

Coronavirus update: Italy death toll leaps to 366 amid mass lockdown, markets set to plunge

Meanwhile, the latest on the coronavirus – 109,836 cases globally with 3,805 deaths and 60,963 recovered. There are 86% of current cases in mild condition and 14% critical. There are 94% recovered/discharged and 6% deaths from 64,768 cases that are now closed.

Source: China's NHC and www.worldometers.info/coronavirus

Risk-off supporting EUR/USD

EUR/USD is picking up a bid at the start of the week and will b a key focus with the Europan Central Bank on the cards. The rally has moved to a critical liquidity pool on the daily charts:

Chart Of The Week: EUR/USD ripe for a u-turn, depending on ECB

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FXStreet Team

FXStreet

Composed of a group of economic journalists and FX experts, the FXStreet content team produces and oversees all content published on FXStreet. It provides a purely journalistic approach to the Forex market.

AUD/USD meets support near 0.7020 ahead of key jobs data

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USD/JPY stands firm near mid-157.00s, close to two-week high

USD/JPY hovers around mid-157.00s in the Asian session on Wednesday, near two-week highs touched last Friday as the BoJ's dovish rate hike continues to undermine the Japanese Yen. Meanwhile, the US Dollar remains firm amid the Fed's hawkish stance, adding support to the pair, though JPY intervention fears cap further gains. Markets pay little heed to the completion of the round of US-Iran indirect talks ahead of Trump-Xi meeting.

Gold falls to weekly troughs below $4,300

Gold rapidly leaves behind two daily upticks in a row and comes under heightened downside pressure midweek. Indeed, the precious metal breaches below the $4,300 mark per troy ounce to reach weekly lows amid the marked recovery in the US Dollar and the generalised upbeat tone in the US money market.

Australia unemployment rate expected to remain unchanged at 4.5% in August

Australia will release the August monthly employment report on Thursday at 01:30 GMT. Ahead of the announcement, analysts expect the country to have added 20K new jobs in the month, while the Unemployment Rate is expected to remain steady at 4.5%. The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) report is also expected to show that the Participation Rate stood at 66.9%, unchanged from the previous month.

Freight costs may reach US shelves after the Fed plans to stop hiking

The Federal Reserve has forecast its main reference rate unchanged through 2027, a year when higher shipping costs are likely still reaching US store prices. Shipping a container from Asia to the US costs more than four times what it did before the war with Iran began in late February. International Monetary Fund research puts the peak effect on shop prices roughly a year out, in 2027.

BoJ Recap: Not as hawkish as expected

The Bank of Japan (BoJ) raised its short-term interest-rate target to 1.25% from 1.00% in a 7-2 vote, marking another step in the normalisation of monetary policy and widely matching what everyone has been expecting for weeks.