In the commodities market, gold has declined 0.14% on fresh hopes for efficient coronavirus vaccines coming out from the US and UK. Also, the European Central Bank (ECB) hinted that it would probably leave interest rates unchanged for a while. Thus, the metal got stuck with some optimism that couldn’t be leveraged by the stock markets.
Elsewhere, crude oil prices are slightly declining on Friday morning, as investors are worried that the record surge in coronavirus cases in the US, along with the ongoing Sino-US tensions, could hurt global trade and hit demand for oil. Meanwhile, OPEC+ agreed earlier this week to ease production cuts.
WTI futures are down 0.22% to $40.66 while Brent futures have declined 0.25% to $43.22.
The US confirmed over 75,000 new COVID cases on Thursday, which is another record. Cases were increasing in 41 states, with 25 of them reporting growth in COVID deaths.
In FX, the US dollar has been somewhat bullish, as investors look for safe havens amid the spike in COVID cases. Markets also expect further stimulus from the US. While the EUR/USD is down 0.10%, the USD index has declined 0.08%, losing earlier gains.
The euro still eyes 1.1400 as the ECB left the policy unchanged on Thursday, in line with expectations. Previously, the central bank took unprecedented measures to support the biggest economic collapse in decades. The European currency has dropped slightly on comments that the ECB has slowed the pace of asset purchases under the Pandemic Emergency Purchase Programme (PEPP).
Finally, the British pound has increased against both the USD and euro, as the UK’s pace of decline in job losses has slowed down. Britain’s unemployment rate remained unchanged at 3.9%, while analysts expected an increase to 4.2%.
