The US Dollar saw broad gains against higher risk currencies during London trade on Wednesday in the continuing fallout over the Coronavirus pandemic. Analysts believe that the worst is yet to be seen, despite assurances from many governments that the numbers of the dead and infected have plateaued. Moreover, they say that, from a global standpoint, market players are likely to see an economic contraction worse than any witnessed over the past several decades. The Aussie and Kiwi Dollars, as well as the Pound Sterling, were weighed by concerns over the dismal outlook. The Japanese Yen also saw an uptick in interest as a safe-haven currency.
As of 10:37 am in London, the AUD/USD was trading at $0.607, down 1.4135% and off the earlier trough of $0.60516 while the high for the session was set at $0.61616. The NZD/USD was also lower at $0.5907, a loss of 1.0371%; the pair has ranged from a low of $0.58778 to a high of $0.59863. The GBP/USD was down at $1.2365, a loss of 0.5005%, moving off the session trough of $1.23294. The USD/JPY was higher at 107.6100 Yen, up 0.08%.
Manufacturing PMIs Offer Little Clarity
A slew of PMI reports were earlier released for the month of March, with largely mixed results. In China, the Caixin Manufacturing PMI was surprisingly higher at 50.1, against an expected reading of 46. In Spain, the Markit Manufacturing PMI reading was at 45.7, lower than the previous reading of 50.4 but higher than the 44 that had been predicted; Spain is the Eurozone's fourth largest economy. In Germany, the EU's largest economy had a reading of 45.4, below an expected 45.5 and a slight decline from the previous reading of 45.7. France's PMI was better than expected at 43.2, with 42.9 expected, while Italy's reading was at 40.3, slightly below the 40.5 that had been predicted. The Markit Manufacturing PMI for the EU was lower at 44.5, with a reading of 44.7 expected. In the UK, the Markit Manufacturing PMI survey was at 47.8, slightly better than the 47 expected but below the previous reading of 48.