Forex Today: Nearly a million coronavirus cases, US jobless claims could top 5 million, markets shaky

Yohay Elam FXStreet

The market mood is cautiously optimistic on Thursday after a risk-off Monday. Stock futures are marginally higher while the US dollar is up against the yen and euro, down against the pound and commodity currencies.

Coronavirus has infected over 930,000 people and taken the lives of 47,000 worldwide. US cases have topped 200,000. Florida has joined the long list of states imposing a lockdown, adding to pressure on the economy.

Weekly jobless claims are in the spotlight today. After surging to 3.283 million in the week ending on March 14, an increase to 3.5 million is on the cards. However, Goldman Sachs foresees five million claims amid the worsening crisis.

See Initial Jobless Claims Preview: The tidal wave rolls on

The ADP Non-Farm Payrolls and the ISM Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index released on Wednesday beat expectations but seemed to miss the latest economic developments in a fast-moving crisis. Authorities in the US have ordered 100,000 body bags in a grim sign of the potential severity of the crisis.

Eurozone: Italy has seen its figures plateauing, but daily deaths in Spain and France have reached new highs. Italy and Germany have extended their movement restrictions to after Easter, and other countries may follow. Eurozone countries continue squabbling over mutualizing the debt, while the European Commission is trying to come up with alternatives to “corona-bonds.”

Chinese coronavirus figures are in growing doubt. Bloomberg reported that US intelligence sources say that the world’s largest economy is concealing the real numbers of mortalities. Beijing has ordered a lockdown in a small county in the Henan province, to prevent a second wave of infections.

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson is under pressure as a welfare claims surge and a severe dearth of COVID-19 testing, especially among health workers. GBP/USD remains highly volatile in comparison to its peers.

Oil is attempting a recovery despite dwindling demand due to the disease and a substantial increase in oil inventories. President Donald Trump is scheduled to meet bosses of oil companies later in the day. China has announced it will start buying oil for its reserves, another positive sign.

Cryptocurrencies have advanced from previous ranges, with Bitcoin trading around $6,600.

More: Learning to love volatility, how to choose currency pairs and more – interview with Nenad Kerkez

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.

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