Dollar sought after in Forex as safe haven asset
US, WASHINGTON (ORDO NEWS) — The US dollar continued to climb on Thursday, as investors sought refuge in a context of high volatility in the financial markets and concerns over tight liquidity.
At 10:15 am, EUR / USD was trading at 1.0857, down 0.5%. The U.S. dollar index , which tracks the greenback against a basket of six other currencies, was 101.930, up 0.4%, and close to its highest level since the end of 2016. USD / JPY rose 0.8% to 108.92, while GBP / USD traded at 1.1584, down 0.25%, and just below levels never seen since 1985.
The Australian dollar fell to its lowest level in 17 years, the New Zealand dollar fell to its lowest level in 11 years, while the Norwegian krone fell more than 5% due to the collapse in prices. oil.
The European Central Bank’s decision to launch a 750 billion euro ($ 815 billion) asset purchase program in response to the coronavirus epidemic first helped the single currency, but even that this was ultimately overtaken by the development of the dollar.
“The main thing that we will see in the days to come,” said John Hardy, head of foreign exchange strategy for the Saxo Bank group, “apart from a change in general sentiment, is the US dollar and the question of whether if it turns again into a killer dollar which increases generally rather than simply against the riskier currencies which are all victims of general deleveraging.”
The last meeting of the Central Bank of South Africa will be interesting later today. It is expected to cut rates, as the economy sank into a recession even before the coronavirus intensified.
Of the 21 economists in a Bloomberg survey, 11 predict a reduction of 50 basis points, while the rest expect a decrease of 25 basis points.
The Swiss National Bank is also scheduled to meet on Thursday, but it should reverse the trend and avoid lowering interest rates, which are already in negative territory, to fight the coronavirus pandemic, according to a Reuters poll.
At 10:15 a.m., USD / CHF was trading at 0.9728, up 0.5%, while USD / ZAR was up at 17.38, up 1.8%.
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