As market players await news from the US Labor Department on January’s private sector new jobs, the US Dollar moved higher against the Japanese Yen and approached a 2-week peak. FX traders will keep a close eye on today’s release of NFP figures; analysts anticipate that job growth will have improved for the month of January. The latest labor related news showed an increase in non-farms productivity last month, and fewer new unemployment claims for the 4-week period through to January 31st. In the UK, worries over the transition period for Britain’s withdrawal from the EU have kept the Pound under pressure; both the greenback and the Euro have been able to gain momentum against Sterling.
As of 10:46 am in Tokyo, the USD/JPY was trading at 109.9030 Yen, down 0.0746% and off the session high of 110.033 Yen. The GBP/USD was trading at $1.2936, a gain of 0.0774%, while the EUR/GBP was at 0.8488 Pence, down 0.06% and off the session high of 0.8500 Pence.
Analysts believe that the coronavirus could ultimately have a significant impact across financial markets, but they say that investors are still doubtful of how it will affect the greenback. They point out, however, that it is still too early to tell how badly markets will fare, especially since the reporting on victims of the virus has been slow in coming. Analysts say that, in general, safe have currencies are likely to see a sentiment shift as concerns continue to grow and threaten global financial markets. Despite the efforts of the Chinese central bank, news that no vaccine has yet been found and that the death toll continues to rise has market players nervous.