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Lower COVID-19 Numbers, Easing Lockdown Measures and OPEC Support Riskier Assets

Earlier in the Day:

It was a relatively quiet start to the week on the economic calendar this morning. The Japanese Yen was in action in the early part of the day.

Away from the calendar, concerns over rising tensions between the U.S and China will continue to test risk appetite.

On the positive, however, was a continued downward trend in new coronavirus cases. The downward trend and easing of lockdown measures will give hope of a speedier economic recovery.

Looking at the latest coronavirus numbers,

On Sunday, the number of new coronavirus cases rose by 75,594 to 4,797,827. On Saturday, the number of new cases had risen by 104,393. The daily increase was lower than Saturday’s rise and 78,198 new cases on the previous Sunday.

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France, Germany, Italy, and Spain reported 2,500 new cases on Sunday, which was down from 3,490 new cases on Saturday. On the previous Sunday, 3,549 new cases had been reported.

From the U.S, the total number of cases rose by 18,838 to 1,526,611 on Sunday. On Saturday, the total number of cases had risen by 25,939. On Sunday, 10th May, a total of 20,329 new cases had been reported.

For the Japanese Yen

1st quarter GDP numbers were in focus in the early part of the day, which came in better than forecasted.

Quarter-on-quarter, the economy contracted by 0.9%, improving on a 1.8% contraction in the 4th quarter. Year-on-year, the economy contracted by 3.4%, which was better than a 7.1% contraction in the 4th quarter.

Economists had forecasted a quarter-on-quarter contraction of 0.9% and a year-on-year contraction of 4.6%.

The Japanese Yen moved from ¥107.182 to ¥107.229 upon release of the figures. At the time of writing, the Japanese Yen was down by 0.17% to ¥107.24 against the U.S Dollar.

Elsewhere

At the time of writing, the Kiwi Dollar was down by 0.02% to $0.5934, while the Aussie Dollar was up by 0.19% to $0.6425.

The Day Ahead:

For the EUR

It’s a quiet day ahead on the economic calendar. There are no material stats due out of the Eurozone to provide the EUR with direction.

Easing restrictions in the EU and an opening of borders need to be accompanied by a sizeable stimulus package to reignite the economy. Expect chatter from Brussels and other EU member states to be key drivers in the day.

EU Finance Ministers are scheduled to hold a virtual meeting on Tuesday that will need to deliver that support.

On the negative, however, is the sudden rise in tensions between the U.S and China. Another trade war would be quite dire for the Eurozone economy.

At the time of writing, the EUR was down by 0.01% to $1.0819.

For the Pound

It’s another particularly quiet day ahead on the economic calendar. There are no material stats due out to provide the Pound with direction.

A lack of stats leaves the Pound in the hands of Brexit chatter and COVID-19 news.

A lack of progress on Brexit remains the key negative for the Pound near-term. Following some quite dire economic data out of the UK last week, an easing in lockdown measures will be needed to provide support to the Pound.

At the time of writing, the Pound was down by 0.26% to $1.2085.

Across the Pond

It’s a quiet day ahead on the U.S economic calendar.

A lack of economic data leaves chatter from Beijing and Washington in focus. There is also the latest round of stimulus to consider and Trump’s easing of lockdown measures.

We can expect the markets to be particularly sensitive to any pickup in new coronavirus cases. Last week’s daily average stood at 22,710, which was down from the previous week’s 24,604.

The Dollar Spot Index was down by 0.01% to 100.396 at the time of writing.

For the Loonie

It’s a quiet day on the economic calendar, with no economic data to provide the Loonie with direction.

The lack of stats will leave the Loonie in the hands of market risk sentiment and crude oil prices on the day.

At the time of writing, the Loonie was up by 0.11% to C$1.4093 against the U.S Dollar. An early jump in crude oil prices provided support as the OPEC + rebalancing act continued to nudge oil prices northwards.

This article was originally posted on FX Empire

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