In Asian trade on Friday, the US Dollar is being pushed higher along with other safe haven currencies amid growing speculation that a swift recovery is unlikely for the global economy. Analysts blame the repercussions of the pandemic spurred on by the Coronavirus pandemic which is wreaking havoc on a large basis. The Japanese Yen and Swiss Franc gained ground against the greenback, striking a 1-month and 3-month high, respectively. Wall Street closed decidedly lower on Thursday, with equity markets in Asia following suit, as a result; the Nikkei 225 was down 2.43% as of 10:15 am.
At the same time, in Asian trade, the USD/JPY was trading at 106.7670 Yen, a loss of 0.03% and moving off the session trough of 106.582 Yen. The GBP/USD was lower at $1.2554, down 0.35% while the EUR/USD was trading at $1.1282, a loss of 0.0903%. The USD/CHF is higher at 0.9447 Swiss Francs, up 0.05% and off the session trough of 0.94250 Swiss Francs.
UK and EU Data in Focus
Later on Friday, the UK Office of National Statistics will be releasing data on GDP, as well as industrial and manufacturing production for the month of April. A recent poll shows that analysts expect the UK's GDP reading to come in at -18.4%, a sharp decline from the previous reading of -5.8%. The forecast for industrial production (month-over-month) is -15%, against the previous reading of -4.2%, while manufacturing production for the same period is likely to be -15.8%, from -4.6%. The Eurozone will also have data on industrial production released by Eurostat; analysts expect that the April figure will be -20% on a seasonally adjusted basis.