Forex Today: Coronavirus devastates Chinese markets, Boris pressures the pound, US data eyed

Yohay Elam FXStreet

Here is what you need to know on Monday, February 3:

Coronavirus news: The number of official cases has topped 17,000, and the death toll is around 360. The first death outside China has been reported, and additional airlines have limited flights to the mainland. Testing kits have improved, and medicine used for HIV may help in curing the virus. The worst is probably still ahead.

Coronavirus market response: Chinese markets have reopened after the New Year's holiday with a sharp downfall, carrying down prices of metals. The People's Bank of China cut interest rates on reverse repos and took other measures to stabilize markets. US stock futures are pointing to recovery after a sharp selloff on Friday. The yuan is down 1%, while USD/JPY has stabilized around 108.50. Gold is trading around $1,580, off the highs. The US dollar is generally stable on Monday after a significant drop on Friday.

Oil prices are also on the back foot amid the outbreak, with a potential fall of 20% in Chinese petrol imports and Citi seeing a $15 drop in prices. OPEC and non-OPEC members are watching the situation closely.

Brexit: Prime Minister Boris Johnson is set to present his vision for future EU-UK relations after Britain officially left on Friday. He will reportedly propose "walking away" from talks if they fail to work according to plan. Johnson aims for a Canada-style trade agreement. GBP/USD is on the back foot.

Eurozone: Markit's final Purchasing Managers' Indexes for January are expected to confirm slower contraction in the old continent.

The US ISM Manufacturing PMI is forecast to recover in January from the low of 47.2 recorded in December. The industry is struggling while the services sector, which is growing at a rapid clip. The figure serves as the first hint toward the Non-Farm Payrolls on Friday.

See US Manufacturing PMI Preview: Trade takes back seat to the virus

Cryptocurrencies are consolidating their recent gains, with Ripple standing out by topping $0.25.

Author

Yohay Elam

FXStreet

Yohay is in Forex since 2008 when he founded Forex Crunch, a blog crafted in his free time that turned into a fully-fledged currency website later sold to Finixio.

EUR/USD weakens to four-week lows near 1.1750

EUR/USD’s selling pressure is gathering pace now, approaching the area of multi-week troughs in the mid-1.1700s on Thursday. The pair’s intense decline comes on the back of another day of solid gains in the US Dollar, particulalry exacerbated following firm prints from the weekly US labour market.

GBP/USD drops further, hovers around 1.3460

In line with the rest of its risk-linked peers, GBP/USD faces increasing selling pressure and recedes toward the 1.3460 region, or four-week lows, on Thursday. Cable’s persistent pullback comes in response to the continuation of the recovery in the Greenback amid a solid US data and a divided FOMC when it comes to the Fed’s rate path.

Gold clings to daily gains near $5,000

Gold struggles for direction and clings to its daily gains around the key $5,000 mark per troy ounce on Thursday. The precious metal sticks to the bid bias amid reignited geopolitical tensions in the Middle East and despite marked gains in the US Dollar and rising US Treasury yields across the curve.

Ripple slips toward $1.40 despite SG-FORGE tapping protocol for EUR CoinVertible

XRP extends its decline, nearing $1.40 support, as risk appetite fades in the broader market. SG-FORGE’s EUR CoinVertible launches on the XRP Ledger, leveraging the blockchain’s scalability, speed, security, and decentralization.

Hawkish Fed minutes and a market finding its footing

It was green across the board for US Stock market indexes at the close on Wednesday, with most S&P 500 names ending higher, adding 38 points (0.6%) to 6,881 overall. At the GICS sector level, energy led gains, followed by technology and consumer discretionary, while utilities and real estate posted the largest losses.

Injective token surges over 13% following the approval of the mainnet upgrade proposal

Injective price rallies over 13% on Thursday after the network confirmed the approval of its IIP-619 proposal. The green light for the mainnet upgrade has boosted traders’ sentiment, as the upgrade aims to scale Injective’s real-time Ethereum Virtual Machine architecture and enhance its capabilities to support next-generation payments.