· Dollar holds advantage as coronavirus fears weigh on markets
The dollar held onto gains on Wednesday as a resurgence of the coronavirus in the United States and the return of lockdowns in some countries boosted safe-haven demand for the U.S. currency.
Risk sentiment was also undermined after Federal Reserve officials expressed concern that rising coronavirus cases could harm economic growth just as stimulus measures start to expire.
The yuan fell slightly against the dollar, halting a two-day rally, after the Chinese central bank’s daily midpoint for the currency was set at a weaker than expected level.
The dollar traded at yen JPY= on Wednesday following a gain on Tuesday.107.580.3%
Against the euro, the dollar was quoted at $, also holding to a gain from the previous session.1.12780.3%
Sterling GBP=D changed hands at and was quoted at pence per euro EURGBP=D3$1.255489.863.
The pound was near three-week highs as traders awaited British finance minister Rishi Sunak’s announcement later on Wednesday of his next moves to prevent a wave of job cuts from damaging an already weakened economy.
Some traders warn that the dollar could break out of its range against the yen because currency options are set to expire later Wednesday and Thursday.
The onshore yuan CNY=CFXS eased slightly to , pulling back from an almost four-month high reached on Tuesday amid speculation the People's Bank of China is trying to check the currency's gains.7.0200
While China’s industrial output has recovered faster than most other countries, further expansion will be hard to attain without stronger, broad-based demand and a turnaround in exports.
· U.S. tops million known infections as coronavirus surges3
The U.S. coronavirus outbreak crossed a grim milestone of over million confirmed cases on Tuesday as more states reported record numbers of new infections, and Florida faced an impending shortage of intensive care unit hospital beds.3
Authorities have reported alarming upswings of daily caseloads in roughly two dozen states over the past two weeks, a sign that efforts to control transmission of the novel coronavirus have failed in large swaths of the country.
California, Hawaii, Idaho, Missouri, Montana, Oklahoma and Texas on Tuesday shattered their previous daily record highs for new cases. The biggest jumps occurred in Texas and California, the two largest U.S. states, with more than ,each. About states have reported disturbingly high infection rates as a percentage of diagnostic tests conducted over the past week.10000 24
In Texas alone, the number of hospitalized patients more than doubled in just two weeks.
· WHO acknowledges 'evidence emerging' of airborne spread of COVID-19
The World Health Organization on Tuesday acknowledged “evidence emerging” of the airborne spread of the novel coronavirus, after a group of scientists urged the global body to update its guidance on how the respiratory disease passes between people.
“We have been talking about the possibility of airborne transmission and aerosol transmission as one of the modes of transmission of COVID-,” Maria Van Kerkhove, technical lead on the COVID-pandemic at the WHO, told a news briefing.1919
· French economy seen rebounding in third quarter, in fourth quarter: INSEE19% 3%
The French economy is set to rebound sharply in the second half of the year after an unprecedented slump in the first half due to the coronavirus lockdown, the INSEE statistics agency said on Wednesday.
The euro zone’s second-biggest economy likely contracted in the second quarter from the previous three months, unchanged from a June forecast and already on the heels of a slump in the first quarter, INSEE said.17% 5.3%
The economy was set to rebound in the third quarter and a further in the fourth quarter with activity seen below pre-crisis levels by December, it added.19%3%1-6%
Over the course of the year, INSEE estimated that the economy was set to contract , France’s worst recession since modern records began in but not as bad as the slump the government forecast in its last revision to the budget.9%1948 11% 2020
· Oil falls as U.S. inventory build stokes supply fears
Oil prices dipped on Wednesday as industry data showing a build in U.S. crude stockpiles added to worries about oversupply while a surge in coronavirus cases in the United States and other areas cast doubts over a pick-up in fuel demand.
Brent crude futures fell cents, or , to a barrel by GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures dropped cents, or , to a barrel, holding to the narrow range of the past few weeks.110.3%$42.970642110.3%$40.51
“The market has a lot of concerns about an rise in the COVID- cases, in the United States in particular,” said Victor Shum, vice president of energy consulting at IHS Markit.19
“I see Brent remaining in the band between $and $for the next few weeks,” he said.37 44
Reference: CNBC, Reuters
Thai
Eng