Coronavirus update: NZ reports 12 new infections, S. Korea sees a spike of 103 cases

Dhwani Mehta FXStreet

According to New Zealand’s (NZ) health official, the country saw 12 new coronavirus cases in the past 24 hours, with two outside of Auckland.

NZ Health Minister Chris Hipkins said that all of the cases are linked to a single cluster.

There are 1,251 confirmed cases, 38 of which are active, and 30 of which are linked to the cluster. 771 close contacts have been identified, and 514 had been contacted this morning.

Note that Auckland is now in alert level three and the rest of NZ level two.

Meanwhile, South Korea reported 103 new confirmed COVID-19 cases on Friday, a big spike after recording nearly 50 news infections over the last two days.

Market reaction

Broad US dollar comeback remains the theme so far this Friday’s Asian trading, pressurizing most majors while the Asian stocks tread water ahead of the key US Retail Sales data.

NZD/USD sheds 0.12% on the day, hovering near 0.6535.

Author

Dhwani Mehta

FXStreet

Residing in Mumbai (India), Dhwani is a Senior Analyst and Manager of the Asian session at FXStreet. She has over 10 years of experience in analyzing and covering the global financial markets, with specialization in Forex and commodities markets.

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