Germany’s Spahn: Must be very alert about the surge in new coronavirus cases

Dhwani Mehta FXStreet

Germany’s Health Minister Jens Spahn said on Wednesday, “we must be very alert about the rise in coronavirus infections.

Spahn added: “We have smaller and larger outbreaks in almost all parts of the country.”

Further comments

“Very skeptical about Russian coronavirus vaccine.”

“It can be dangerous to start vaccinating millions or billions of people early.”

“Would be happy if Germany has a vaccine but still in the testing phase.”

Last week, Spahn said that a general lockdown could be imposed again if the coronavirus numbers rise.

His comments come after Germany added 1,226 new cases on Wednesday while the total active cases topped 10,000 for the first time since 22 May.

Market reaction

EUR/USD is holding the lower ground near 1.1715, down 0.18% on a daily basis. The dollar demand alongside the cautious remarks from the German health official remains a drag on the spot.

Author

Dhwani Mehta

FXStreet

Residing in Mumbai (India), Dhwani is a Senior Analyst and Manager of the Asian session at FXStreet. She has over 10 years of experience in analyzing and covering the global financial markets, with specialization in Forex and commodities markets.

EUR/USD flirts with weekly lows near 1.1770

EUR/USD now comes under further selling pressure, breaking below the 1.1800 support to challenge the area of weekly throughs near 1.1770 on Thursday. The pair’s decline comes in response to marked gains in the US Dollar amid steady geopolitical tensions. Ealier in the day, the ECB’s Lagarde delivered cautious remarks, although the currency remained apathetic.

GBP/USD threatens the 200-day SMA near 1.3440

GBP/USD rapidly leaves behind Wednesday’s strong advance, coming under heavy pressure and retesting the 1.3440 zone, where the critical 200-day SMA is located. Cable’s deep pullback follows the strong gains in the Greenback, while investors continue to pencil in a potential BoE rate cut in March.

Gold trims gains, slips back to around $5,170

Gold is now facing some downside pressure, hovering around the $5,170 region on Thursday. The yellow metal surrenders part of its earlier gains on the back of the resurgence of the buying interest in the Greenback. In the meantime, geopolitical tensions in the Middle East continue to limit the downside potential for now.