Japan eyes lifting coronavirus emergency in some areas early – Asahi

Dhwani Mehta FXStreet

In some upbeat news around the coronavirus, Japanese media outlet Asahi Shimbun reported early Monday that the country’s government is expected to lift the state of emergency in some areas earlier than previously announced.

Further details are not yet reported.

However, Tokyo confirmed 429 new infections on Feb. 7, putting the weekly average of new daily cases at 572, down 67% from the previous week.

Market reaction

Markets are cautious in early trades, digesting the latest US stimulus updates and mixed employment data while vaccine developments continue to remain a cause for concern.

USD/JPY trades modestly flat around 105.40, as the US dollar attempts a recovery from Friday’s steep losses.

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.

GBP/USD: Daily gains remain capped by 1.3650

GBP/USD leaves behind Monday’s pessimism and advances marginally on Tuesday. Cable’s humble gains, however, appear to have met quite a decent resistance in the 1.3650 zone for now, in a context of a slight selling pressure hovering around the Greenback.

EUR/USD struggles to regain pace; gyrates around 1.1670

EUR/USD clinches humble gains around 1.1670 following Tuesday’s close on Wall Street. Indeed, marginal losses in the US Dollar encourages spot to set aside two dauly pullbacks in a row and maintain the 1.1700 barrier on the cross-hairs for now. Moving forward, US inflation tracked by the PCE and another revision of Q2 GDP data should keep investors entertained on Wednesday.

Gold struggles near $4,650 ahead of US PCE inflation data

Gold struggles around $4,650 early Wednesday after the previous day's two-way swings as traders await the US PCE data for cues about the Fed's interest rate path. The outlook could drive the US Dollar and the non-yielding bullion. Meanwhile, renewed hopes for a US-Iran peace deal, weak Oil prices, sliding US bond yields and diminishing odds of an immediate tightening by the Fed undermine the USD, which could likely limit Gold's downside.

Bitcoin posts strongest weekly gain since November 2024 as market activity surges

Bitcoin (BTC) has posted its strongest one-week gain since the November 2024 US presidential election, climbing 23% over the past week as spot market activity and institutional demand returned sharply, according to a Tuesday report from K33. The rally pushed Bitcoin from around $63,000 to over $80,000 by late Monday.

America’s self‑inflicted trade wound

I’m conflicted about the trade war that the U.S. has started with Canada. Let’s be clear: any representation that Canada has been taking unfair advantage of the U.S. or that they have been treating us badly for years is a bogus characterization. In reality, the shoe is on the other foot. It’s the U.S. that has been behaving badly.

Canada hits US goods with tariffs; The rate market sees a problem

On September 8, Canada begins charging its own importers 15%, 25% and 50% on roughly 700 lines of American goods. The measure is billed as dollar for dollar, and on the arithmetic of covered trade it is. What it is not is a tax on the United States.