Trump: We're very close to completing a plan to open our country, hopefully even ahead of schedule

Ross J Burland FXStreet

US President Donald Trump listened to top U.S. health expert Dr Anthony Fauci when he recommended that mitigation efforts be taken to stop the spread of the coronavirus. However, Trump is determined to open the economy at the earliest opportunity.

In the Presser taking place, Trump has stated, "we're very close to completing a plan to open our country, hopefully even ahead of schedule."

Fauci made the comments after saying in a separate interview that lives could have been saved if the country had shut down sooner during the novel coronavirus outbreak.

Earlier, Trump retweeted a call to fire Fauci after that interview, but Reuters reports that the "White House said on Monday Trump did not intend to part ways with the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases."

In other comments coming through, Trump said we think the opec+ agreement will lead to a 20 million bpd cut in global oil production, repeating earlier news, more on that here: WTI: OPEC+ has not done enough and Trump knows it

Additional comments from Trump

Trump says he will work with states on opening the economy but the president "calls the shots".
Trump says we'll know in next few days when he wants to reopen the country.
Says wants to end travel restrictions with Europe at the right time.
Says we'll know in next few days when he wants to reopen the country.
Trump says he should have a decision by the end of this week on world health organization funding.

Market implications

Markets will ride the prospects of the economy being cranked back into life, although the risk of contagion is going to be a challenge for the bulls and there could easily be setbacks along the way to anything proposed by Trump depending on the ebbs and flows of contagion and death tolls.

Author

Ross J Burland

FXStreet

Ross J Burland, born in England, UK, is a sportsman at heart. He played Rugby and Judo for his county, Kent and the South East of England Rugby team.

EUR/USD weakens toward 1.1600 as firm US data revives the US Dollar

The EUR/USD edged lower on Thursday, down some 0.21% as market sentiment remains risk averse due to the ongoing conflict in the Middle East. This and solid US economic data pushed the pair lower towards the 1.1600 figure ahead of Friday’s session.

GBP/USD drifts lower heading into NFP range

GBP/USD edged lower by 0.2% on Thursday, settling close to 1.3350 in a strained trading session that kept the pair pinned near three-month lows. Price briefly recovered earlier in the day on reports that Iran had indirectly signaled openness to talks with the CIA, but the bounce faded as Israeli officials reportedly advised Washington to disregard the overture.

Gold slumps below $5,100 as US Dollar gains

Gold price tumbles to near $5,085 during the early Asian session on Friday. The precious metal loses ground amid a stronger US Dollar. The US employment report for February will take center stage later on Friday.

NYSE parent Intercontinental Exchange partners with OKX, invests at a $25B valuation

OKX announced an investment from Intercontinental Exchange, raising its valuation to $25 billion, alongside a partnership to expand regulated crypto futures and tokenized equity offerings globally.

Two PMIs, two Chinas

China’s economic data are often treated with a degree of caution by global investors. The challenge is not necessarily that the numbers are incorrect, but that they can describe very different parts of a vast and complex economy. Nowhere is that more evident than in China’s PMIs.

Ripple tests recovery strength amid steady ETF inflows, growing retail interest

Ripple (XRP) continues to demonstrate notable resilience as the cryptocurrency market navigates the persistent war in the Middle East after the United States (US) and Israel attacked Iran on Saturday.