Forex Today: Risk-off backs the greenback

Valeria Bednarik FXStreet

What you need to know on Tuesday, October 12:

The week kick-started in slow motion with market participants looking for fresh catalysts. Generally speaking, concerns persisted as worrisome headlines came from China putting a cap to Friday stocks’ rally. Once again, Evergrande skipped a foreign dividend payment, while another local giant, developer Sinic Holdings, said it would likely default on its 2021 bonds, as it does not have enough financial resources to the make payments by their maturity date.

Wall Street seesawed between gains and losses, ending the day in the red. Earnings season kicked in with big banks reporting this week. The US bond market was closed, as the US celebrated Columbus Day.

The American dollar benefited from risk-off at the end of the day, although the AUD/USD pair retained its early gains, as higher copper prices underpinned the aussie. USD/CAD ended the day unchanged at around 1.2480, while the best performer was USD/JPY up to 113.40, its highest since 2018.

The EUR/USD pair ended the day with modest losses in the 1.1550 price zone, while GBP/USD finished the day just below the 1.3600 threshold.

Oil prices kept rallying to multi-year highs, with WTI settling at $ 80.50 a barrel. Gold ticked lower, closing the day at $1,754 a troy ounce.

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Author

Valeria Bednarik

FXStreet

Valeria Bednarik was born and lives in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Her passion for math and numbers pushed her into studying economics in her younger years.

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