In the commodity market, oil prices continue to decline after a strong start of the week. Both brands have declined by over 2%, as investors are worried about weakening demand amid the fresh lockdowns imposed in Europe. Italy reported a record number of coronavirus cases on Thursday, while many US states also saw record figures this week.
Gold is retreating after surging over 2.6% yesterday. Currently, the metal is down 0.42% to $1,938.
In FX, the US dollar is recovering some losses after tumbling yesterday closer to the lowest level in two years. The USD Index is up 0.15% to 92.642, after hovering above 94.000 at the beginning of the week. Still, EUR/USD is up only 0.2% to 1.1824. The euro is under pressure amid a surging number of new COVID cases.
The British pound fell against both majors after the Bank of England ramped up its already huge bond-buying program on Thursday, though it left the interest rate unchanged at a record low of 0.1%.
