FOREX-Dollar rebounds, yen drops, as traders cling to stimulus hopes

Published 10/03/2020, 10:03
Updated 10/03/2020, 10:09
© Reuters.  FOREX-Dollar rebounds, yen drops, as traders cling to stimulus hopes
DX
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* Dollar recovers, adds 1.9% vs yen, 0.5% vs euro

* Commodity linked currencies rebound but sentiment fragile

* Tracking the coronavirus: https://tmsnrt.rs/3aIRuz7

* Graphic: World FX rates in 2019 http://tmsnrt.rs/2egbfVh

By Tommy Wilkes

LONDON, March 10 (Reuters) - The dollar rebounded on Tuesday

afters huge losses against the yen, the euro and the Swiss

franc, as investors turned hopeful that global policymakers

would introduce stimulus to cushion the economic impact of the

coronavirus outbreak.

The moves helped reverse Monday's gyrations, although at 104

yen per dollar the Japanese currency was not back above the 105

seen before this week.

The dollar started to rise as U.S. stock futures rose and

bond yields gained, after U.S. President Donald Trump said he

would hold a news conference on Tuesday about economic measures

in response to the virus.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin also said the White

House would meet with bank executives this week in a sign the

U.S. government would roll out measures to cope with the virus.

Analysts said it was too early to call a bottom in the

dollar, which plunged on Monday after a price war between Saudi

Arabia and Russia triggered the biggest daily rout in oil prices

since the 1991 Gulf War.

Against a basket of currencies, the dollar rose 0.2% to

95.613 =USD . It rallied 1.9% against the yen to 104.28

JPY=EBS , considerably higher than Monday's 101.18 low.

The yen also wobbled against major crosses, such as the euro

EURJPY=EBS and the Australian dollar AUDJPY=EBS , after Bank

of Japan officials indicated they were ready to ramp up stimulus

if necessary before a policy meeting next week.

"It seems pretty clear that owning the yen still works when

bond yields are falling, volatility is spiking and risk appetite

is disappearing. So today's a bad day for the yen as we reverse

all those sentiments," said Kit Juckes, an FX strategist at

Societe Generale.

"However, that opens up the opportunity to get yen longs on

before we exit the eye of the storm and feel its fury again."

The euro dropped 0.4% versus the dollar to $1.1385

EUR=EBS .

The dollar rose 1.2% to 0.9361 Swiss franc CHF=EBS on

Tuesday, then fell to 0.9299 francs after three days of heavy

selling pushed it to its lowest in almost five years. Data

suggest the Swiss National Bank is now intervening to weaken its

currency. Against the pound GBP=D3 , the U.S. currency rose 0.5% to

$1.3067.

Commodity-linked currencies that tumbled on Monday following

the crash in oil prices recovered from record lows. The

Norwegian crown added 1.6% versus the euro to 10.796

EURNOK=D3 , still off the 10.4 levels seen last week.

The Canadian dollar rose 0.3% to C$1.3658 CAD=D3 .

The Russian rouble RUB=EBS gained 3.6% and the Mexican

peso MXN=EBS 0.5%.

Volatility surged in FX markets in recent days, but analysts

said it could get much worse depending on upcoming economic

data.

"The data from China is likely to be of particular interest

as it was the first country to be hit by the virus. The tension

on the markets is likely to continue and I would not exclude

that the FX markets might be hit be a proper risk-off wave at

some point soon," said Commerzbank analyst Thu Lan Nguyen.

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