Forex Today: Long-term extremes for EUR/USD, USD/JPY, AUD/USD, Gold amid coronavirus fears, USD rally

Yohay Elam FXStreet

Here is what you need to know on Thursday, February 20:

Coronavirus: Fears are dominating markets once again after the number of cases in South Korea doubled and two people on the Diamond Princess cruise ship died. China has changed its counting methodology once again, causing confusion. On the economic front, Beijing has provided more liquidity and cut requirements for the household loans but some see it as insufficient.

USD/JPY has been consolidating its gains well above 111 after soaring on Wednesday. A combination of data-related dollar strength, receding coronavirus fears, the triggering of stops, and a late reaction to dismal Japanese growth figures are behind the meteoric rise. The downbeat market mood is helping the yen stabilize.

Gold prices have topped $1,612 amid coronavirus fears and other reasons. It is the highest since 2013. The precious metal has been extending its gains that began in 2019 and topped the peak seen around the Iran crisis early in 2020.

See Gold Price Analysis: Pulls back amid overbought RSI, multiple upside barriers ahead

AUD/USD has hit new 11-year lows at 0.6630 after Australia reported a disappointing increase in the unemployment rate to 5.3% in January. It is hovering around the lows last seen in 2009.

EUR/USD is also near the 34-month lows of 1.0782 after having almost fully closed the "Macron Gap" from 2017. The European Central Bank's minutes from the January decision may shed more light on the bank's next moves. Germany's weakness may prompt more stimulus. Details of the ECB's strategic review are also eyed.

See ECB Minutes Preview: Coronavirus, inflation, and strategic review comments set to move EUR/USD.

GBP/USD also dropped sharply to around 1.29 despite higher than expected inflation figures. The pound has come under pressure after EU ambassadors failed to agree on a position toward the UK in post-Brexit talks. UK retail sales are forecast to show an increase in January after two months of substantial falls.

The Federal Reserve's meeting minutes have confirmed the bank's stance that it intends to leave rates unchanged. The minutes also provided several technical details about the Fed's plan to taper down the buying of short-term bonds.

See FOMC minutes mix economic optimism and caution

The Philly Fed Manufacturing Index is of interest on Thursday. On Wednesday, Housing Starts, Building Permits, and the Producer Price Index are all beat expectations.

Cryptocurrencies suffered a sell-off late on Wednesday. Bitcoin is trading around $9,500, Ethereum at around $260, and XRP below $0.30.

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.

GBP/USD eases from tops, retests 1.3630

GBP/USD clings to its daily gains, although it gives away some gains and recedes toward the 1.3630 region on Thursday. Cable’s uptick comes despite the bounce in the Greenback, which manages to regain some balance in the wake of Wednesday’s deep pullback.

EUR/USD turns negative near 1.1670

EUR/USD now trades with modest losses around 1.1670, coming all the way down from earlier tops beyond 1.1700 the figure. The pair’s decline follows the acceptable rebound in the US Dollar as market participants continue to closely follow developments from the US money market.

Gold comes under pressure below $4,500

Gold faces some correction and slips back below the key $4,500 mark per troy ounce on Thursday. The precious metal’s daily decline comes amid the slightly improvement in the US Dollar and rising US Treasury yields across the curve.

Crypto Today: Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP extend gains as ETFs inflows and improved sentiment boost outlook

Cryptocurrency prices are extending gains on Thursday, led by Bitcoin’s (BTC) climb above $70,000. Ethereum (ETH) remains bullish, trading above $2,200, while Ripple (XRP) has recovered above $1.15 as bulls tighten their grip.

US Treasury doubles long-dated bond buybacks: Why are yields rising again?

US Treasury yields stabilize on Thursday after Wednesday’s sharp decline, with the 10-year yield edging back up to 4.672%. The US Treasury doubled the size of some long-dated debt buybacks, a surprise decision that helped ease the recent surge in yields.

$20 billion offered, $2 billion taken: Why Treasury doubled its buyback cap

The US Treasury moved off its own calendar on Wednesday, and that is the part worth sitting with. At 12:32 GMT, the department said it would at least double the size of liquidity support buyback operations in the 10-year to 20-year and 20-year to 30-year sectors, lifting the maximum from $2 billion per operation to at least $4 billion, effective September 9 and running to November 4.