Commodity currencies drew support on Thursday from hopeful signs the coronavirus pandemic may be peaking and that major oil producers may agree to cut output to stem a plunge in oil prices.
FILE PHOTO: Euro, Hong Kong dollar, U.S. dollar, Japanese yen, pound and Chinese 100 yuan banknotes are seen in this picture illustration, January 21, 2016. REUTERS/Jason Lee/Illustration/File Photo, down slightly but still near its highest level since mid-March, maintaining most of its gains since rallying from a 17-year trough of $0.5510 touched three weeks ago.
“New York reported its biggest death toll while infections hit the highest level in four days in Spain and three days in Italy,” said Tohru Sasaki, head of Japan market research at JPMorgan. “All these are negative but forecasts both from governments and experts that the peak could come within days are leading markets not to focus on those details.”
On top of hopes of a peak in the epidemic, commodity-linked currencies, including the Aussie, got an additional boost from hopes that major oil producing countries could agree to cut output at a video conference on Thursday.traded at C$1.4025 per U.S. dollar, not far off this week's peak at C$1.3945. The Canadian currency has been recovering from a four-year low of C$1.4669 hit on March 20.
“Markets are now looking to the meeting of OPEC Plus. Some people are having high expectations but getting a deal could be tricky,” said Kyosuke Suzuki, director of currency trade at Societe Generale in Tokyo., having slipped 0.35% on Wednesday, after European Union finance ministers failed in all-night talks to agree on more economic support for their coronavirus-stricken economies.
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