Forex Today: Hopes to keep backing the dollar’s demand

FXStreet Team FXStreet

What you need to know on Monday, February 8:

The greenback gave up ground on Friday, ending the week with uneven results. The catalyst was a mixed US employment report, which showed a tepid job creating a downward review to December figures, but an improving unemployment rate.

Commodity-linked currencies were able to post modest weekly gains against the dollar, while the pound was the best performer. GBP/USD flirted with the multi-month high at 1.3758 amid ramping coronavirus immunization in the UK and BOE’s rate decision, cooling down expectations for negative rates.

The EUR/USD pair closed in the red around 1.2050, recovering from a fresh 2021 low at 1.1951. USD/JPY hit 106.76 before shedding some pips, ending a second consecutive week with substantial gains.

ECB’s chief Christine Lagarde spoke through a French newspaper on Sunday and said she expects the EU to pick-up in the summer, stressing that public authorities will have a difficult job weaning the economy off of emergency support.

Optimism prevails amid hopes for a new US stimulus package, as Democrats are working on passing US President Joe Biden’s bill of $1.9 trillion without Republican support.

Wall Street flirted with all-time highs on Friday, while US Treasury yields surged to their highest since March 2020.

In the coronavirus front, the global number of new contagions and deaths continues to recede. Vaccine-immunization continues at an even pace, amid production and delivery delays. Meanwhile, Israel announced it may have found a cure for coronavirus after applying a medication called EXO-CD24. Out of 30 serious patients treated, 29 were released from hospital within five days.

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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.

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