Yahoo Finance A Light Economic Calendar Leaves the Markets in the Hands of COVID-19 and OPEC
Earlier in the Day:
It was a quiet start to the day on the economic calendar on Monday, with no material stats to provide direction early on.
A lack of stats left the markets to react to the U.S labor market numbers and the latest COVID-19 figures.
At the time of writing, the total number of coronavirus cases across France, Germany, Italy, and Spain rose by 16,711 to 453,556. In the U.S, the total number of cases increased by 24,774 to 336,131. That took the total number of cases globally to 1,270,916. The increases on Sunday were significantly lower than Saturday, which was positive for riskier assets.
For the Majors
At the time of writing, the Aussie Dollar was up by 0.55% to $0.6030, with the Kiwi Dollar up by 0.09% to $0.5883. The Japanese Yen was down by 0.34% to ¥108.92 against the U.S Dollar.
In the equity markets, market reaction to the fewer number of new COVID-19 cases reported on Sunday delivered early support. The ASX200 was up by 2.33%, with the Nikkei up by 2.73%, at the time of writing.
The Day Ahead:
For the EUR
It’s a relatively quiet day ahead on the economic calendar. Germany factory orders for February are due out later this morning.
Barring weak numbers, the markets will likely brush aside the figures. February stats are yet to reflect the effects of the coronavirus on the German economy.
Outside of the numbers, the latest coronavirus numbers will have a greater impact on the day. Talk of the virus peaking in Spain should provide support at the start of the week. That is in stark contrast from the message from the U.S, where Trump warned of the toughest week ahead.
At the time of writing, the EUR was up by 0.14% at $1.0816.
For the Pound
It’s also a relatively quiet day ahead on the economic calendar. March Construction PMI figures are due out in the early part of the day.
With little else on the economic calendar for the markets to consider until Thursday, the Pound will be sensitive to the numbers.
Ultimately, expect the latest coronavirus numbers to have a greater influence on the day. One negative for the Pound, however, was news of Boris Johnson being admitted to hospital over the weekend.
At the time of writing, the Pound was down by 0.20% to $1.2244.
Across the Pond
It’s a particularly quiet day ahead on the U.S economic calendar, with no material stats due out of the U.S.
A lack of stats leaves market sentiment towards the impact of the coronavirus on the global economy in focus. We saw the Dollar find further support at the end of last week. There may well be more of the same if Trump proves to be correct.
The Dollar Spot Index was up by 0.14% to 100.712 at the time of writing.
For the Loonie
It’s also a quiet day ahead on the economic calendar, with no material stats due out to provide the Loonie with direction.
A lack of stats leaves the emergency OPEC – Russia oil meeting in focus on the day. U.S President Trump talked up a 10m bpd cut in oil production. Failure by Russia and OPEC to deliver will weigh heavily on crude oil prices and the Loonie on the day.
The Loonie was up by 0.02% at C$1.4202 against the U.S Dollar, at the time of writing.
This article was originally posted on FX Empire
